True Tiger
by theICEBear
Summary: 5th part of the Darkness and the Light. A desolate Xena steeped in her memories of returning to life fights to stop Jenn from undoing all the good Gabrielle did for Chin. PostFIN
1. Prologue

True Tiger

5th Part of The Darkness and The Light series 

By Mikael Helbo Kjaer 

Email: the@icebear.dk

Website: http://www.icebear.dk 

**Disclaimer**: Xena, Gabrielle and all other original characters portrayed in the TV show Xena, Warrior Princess are the exclusive property of Renaissance Pictures, Studios USA and Universal Television. No infringement is intended by this piece of fiction. The story is however the exclusive property of the above mentioned author. This story can be freely copied and distributed online under the condition that any website or list informs the author about the posting or the author approaches the website or list with the story for posting. The story and this note must be presented unedited except for any HTML added for presentation purposes. All other situations must be negotiated with the author as named above. No commercial gain must come from the usage of this story.

**Setting**: Post FIN

**Sexual references:** GEN (with subtext)

**Violence**: This story contains scenes with and descriptions of intense violence

**Rating**: PG-15

**Summary**: 5th installment of the series 'The Darkness and The Light'. The grieving and emotional Xena is slowly making her way towards the final resting place of Gabrielle's body, while her thoughts are plagued by her memories of her own struggle to return to the side of her bard. What will she do, when she learns that the witch Jenn is about to undo all the good Gabrielle did for Chin?

**Author's notes**: First of all I want to thank Karen and Sarah for their help and patience, Maureen for being a friend and everyone else who reads my stories for doing so. In this one I am challenging myself to write outside of my usual mindset to deal with grief in a person not emotionally strong enough to handle it against the backdrop of an adventure. When finished the PDF version of this can be found on my website.

Prologue: 

            She rode her brown horse along the dusty trail. The tracks on the road in front of her revealed that a large army had passed this way not long ago. She didn't care. Her eyes and ears were not trained on finding any threats approaching either. Her guard wasn't raised, as she rode all alone through the bamboo forest. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her black hair was unkempt and her usually tan skin was pale. She slumped in her saddle, trusting her horse to continue on without much input from her. Xena was beyond caring for herself. In her mind she had only two tasks left. Two small things she had to accomplish, before she could have some peace. But these last few days she had lost the focus to do even that.

Her thoughts had at first been to go to the dragon that had taken Gabrielle's body from the battlefield and demand it to be handed over for a proper burial in Amphipolis after some ceremony with Gabrielle's Amazons. But then it had changed. 

She had become angry. She had become angry at the Chinese for letting her friend die for their cause. She had become angry at herself for being to late. Gabrielle had died around the time she had gotten back on her feet and maybe just maybe if she had thought faster or ridden directly to Chin, then maybe Gabrielle would be alive at her side. In the end she had even become angry at Gabrielle for dying, for dashing her fragile hopes for some lasting happiness. 

Then her search had become frantic. A burning hope, that maybe she could force Ares or Aphrodite or some other god into resurrecting her bard, had driven her. But as the reality of her situation sunk in even that hope died, just as her rage had. A great emptiness had followed as she set out across the vast lands of the Empire to find the mysterious valley of the dragon.

Now she cared less and less for anything each passing day. She just rode through the forest heading northwest hoping that she would find her friend's body soon and maybe if she didn't have the means or will to move it, end it all there.

Xena didn't even notice that she had a fever and hadn't eaten in days. She was on the final stretch in her mind. She kept assuring herself that it would all be over soon. The valley couldn't be far and when she reached it, her journeying would be over at last.

Two pairs of eyes peered out from under a bush as Xena passed on her horse. "She doesn't look like much of a threat," the scout whispered to his friend, who like him had shed their Imperial army uniforms for a simpler and stealthier garb of green cloth and brown hide not long ago. 

"Well, she had been following the army for a least a couple of days. We should challenge her and find out whom she serves. She looks an awful lot like one of those northern barbarians we're hunting," his friend said as they crawled back out from under the bush just as the black haired woman passed out of sight.

"The Warrior Bard was a foreigner as well and she saved all of Chin from their tyranny. You can't use her looks as an excuse to get yourself a new horse," the soldier clad in Chinese garb said as he walked over to his weary steed and took its reins. The scouts walked out onto the road. "She looked ill," the other soldier said as they set out to follow the trail of their army hoping to catch up to it soon.

As they rounded a curve a little up the road, they found the brown horse standing over its fallen rider. After looking at each other then back at the body the two scouts shrugged and after looking for any signs of one of the contagious diseases they picked her up and slung her over the back of her horse. They rode after their army, the formerly horseless scout using Xena's massive mount as if it was his.

"General Wu," a voice called from outside his command tent. He recognized it as being owned by one of his commanders.

"Come in," he offered and looked towards the tent opening.

Commander Chang stepped into his tent with a neutral expression on his face. It was clearly nothing important as he recalled this man for all his courage and experience still had a tendency for wide eyed looks, when reporting important news. It gave the commander a slightly innocent air that fit his otherwise sober personality well. He wondered if it was a habit Gabrielle had encouraged in the man that had served as the captain of her regiment. "My general, my scouts have returned and confirmed my suspicions that my soldiers were followed on their way up here. They captured or rather found a black haired warrior woman on our trail. I think she could be one of the northerners. Her weaponry and armor is different from anything I've seen before, but I still…"

Sun interrupted Chang. "It is a tall subtly muscled woman with black hair, who rides on a tall brown horse right," he said. His commander nodded mutely.

"She is no enemy of ours. Actually I was hoping to meet her again. I think, you would want to exchange a couple of words with her as well," he explained and smiled at his commander's confused expression. 

"Why would I want to talk to her?" Chang asked.

"I met her in Chang'an. She walked into the palace, managing to get as far as the hall in which I was practicing with my sword. She claimed, she was seeking the one we knew as the Warrior Bard," he took a drink from a jug of water to stave of the heat of the midday before continuing. 

"I didn't believe her, but then she told me her real name and claimed to have lived and adventured with her for six years. She knew things that even I haven't heard in any of the stories circulating about her life not that there are many," Sun wiped a hand across his forehead and indicated that his commander should sit down and refresh himself on the water as well.

"I asked her to prove her knowledge of the Warrior Bard to me. I asked her to tell me the name of the bard and her hometown. She told me both those things and I even learned the name of the land from which Gabrielle originated: Greece, it is called," Sun explained proudly.

"She asked me to tell her, where her friend was. I would have told her the sad story of our friend's untimely demise, but I was heading into the field just after that and I had a lot to do, so I sent her to a man much better equipped to tell the story of his Little Dragon," he explained.

"You sent her to Master Fong," Chang said his eyes far away and his thought probably lost in the very same type of memories every mention of the blonde bard seemed to bring out in all her friends in Chin.

"Yes, and if she is here now, then she is probably still bent on seeing her friend even if it is only her lifeless body," Sun pointed out and slowly rose from his chair.

"I would like to meet her," Sun said and walked towards the curtain meant to keep out the worst of the dust and heat outside. Chang rose and followed him.

"That might turn out to be a slight problem," Chang tried to explain as he walked purposefully towards the commander's troops, where he expected to find the tall warrior woman.

"Why?" He asked and looked at the younger man.

"She was found as I tried to explain. She is sick. I sent her to the healers' tents under guard of course," Chang explained and gestured towards the collection of small and large tents that were the domains of his healers. Sun headed that way a frown creasing his forehead as he was guided by his commander towards the resting place of the friend of a friend.

The black haired woman lay on a small bed in a shadowy and cool tent. Her eyes were closed and her hair was wet from her own sweat. A healer was slowly giving the woman, who looked a lot thinner and paler than the last time he had seen her, some water and fruit juice, while another was putting wet cloths on her head to cool her down.

"What is wrong with her?" He asked the healer that had just risen from the woman's side.

"She has not been taking care of herself. She needs food and water. And to top it all off she has caught some fever. If we don't get her temperature down as well as get her to drink and eat, she will take permanent damage in the head or die from this. In fact in her condition it is a wonder that she hasn't died yet," the healer explained and looked down at his patient.

"Take good care of her," Wu asked and left the tent feeling no more comfortable amongst the healers than he usually did when there were screaming and crying men around. Healers' tents held too many bad memories for him to spend much time there.

Nobody noticed how the woman behind them whispered in her dry throat: "Gabrielle… I am coming." Her mind wandered into her fevered disrupted memories for comfort and found a land filled with moaning shadows.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: 

The merchant's ship was sailing away from Japan. Even with the sun shining she stood unseen at the side of her soul mate. Her death wasn't even a memory yet and already the emotionally strong bard was smiling and reminiscing about their lives together. She was sure that Gabrielle could handle her death. She was strong and brave. She had always been better at handling grief than her. Gabrielle held the black urn with her ashes as the sun hung high in the sky.

"A life of journeying has brought you to the farthest lands-- to the very edges of the Earth." Xena heard desolation and loss of hope in the voice of her soul mate, the sadness brought forth the memories of their life together apparent. 

Xena collected all her will and like she had found during her first bout with death Gabrielle was an easy recipient for a vision. She willed herself to appear at her side. Struggling to find words that would bring some temporary comfort to her soul mate, she said, "And to the place where I'll always remain… your heart." 

Wanting to move the concerns of the bard to another issue such as the future, she asked, "Where to now?"

Gabrielle leaned against her image and Xena found herself wishing to be able to reach out and truly comfort her friend. She regretted the many chances for happiness and consummation that she had denied them by her own will or to fit her needs over the years of their life together. "I think we should go south… to the land of the Pharaohs. I hear they need a girl with a chakram," her friend said and in her heart Xena suddenly knew that she might have cursed Gabrielle to a destiny much like her own. 

Cast adrift to live by the sword for the rest of what could be a short life, because her death had deprived the blonde warrior bard of one of the things she lived for… their bond and life. It could overshadow her girlfriend's life and turn it into a mad quest for resolution that would never come. Just like her search for redemption had been until their awakening from their deaths on the crosses of Caesar. Still it felt bittersweet to speak her incorporeal soul's greatest wish as an answer, "Where you go I'm at your side."

A smile, which never reached Gabrielle's eyes to tell if her emotions had been changed by their conversation, spread on her friend's face and she replied glibly, "I knew you'd say that." But as the ship's distance to Japan grew Xena suddenly felt her energy and ability to focus fade. To her surprise she couldn't maintain her manifestation and she faded from her soul mate's view.

Xena felt something tug at her. As the wind caught hold of the sails of the merchantman she suddenly found herself suspended in mid air in the exact place, where she had stood earlier. "What the hell is going on," she cursed as the never relenting pull dragged her across the water and landed her back at the shore of the islands of the rising sun. Tears rolled from her eyes as she was taken forcefully from the side of her friend. Something was forcing her to break her promise to always stay at her friend's side even in death. Enraged she prowled the beach for hours on end, but was unable to find either the reason for her problem or a way to solve it. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't cross the water that now separated them. Gabrielle's ship had long since passed below the horizon and Xena realized that she would probably never see her soul mate again.

Xena sat down on a stone and cried her heartache. She was so far gone that she didn't notice the red skinned demon that suddenly burst from the bushes along the shore in a spurt and tackled her to the ground.

She struggled to throw off her attacker, but the enormously strong demon held her down and screamed a single word into the sky. The fighting pair disappeared after a roaring red glowing cloud of light had surrounded them. The red cloud of motes suddenly disappeared leaving the beach empty of both Xena and her attacker.

Hachiman stared out over the land from a top his mount. The powerful Japanese god of war still felt aglow from the raucous fighting that had brought his attention to this region. The honorable defenders of Higuchi had fought well and with the help of two great warriors they had brought Yodoshi and his general to heel. Their souls were now probably making their way to the court of Emma-o while he stopped here to revel in the victory over another plot by Mikaboshi as Yodoshi's reign of terror had been. His lands would be safer for it.  Now both battle and rule would continue to be proper and honorable in his domain. He was surprised however when he felt the presence of another god nearby and heard sobs of someone crying. 

He approached to find the unlikely sight of eight armed Benten sitting by the shores of a small mountain lake crying, while gazing at an image she had conjured in the reflection of the sun in the water. "What ails you Benten?" He asked hiding his suspicions of manipulation from his expression and regarded the beautiful goddess of love.

"Hachiman," the goddess rose while blushing at being caught in a private moment of sadness. "I am sorry. I hope I didn't disturb you," she said and rose. 

"No, no," he said. The goddess' obvious embarrassment told beyond words that she hadn't expected him here and her business in this place hadn't been to ensnare him in some plot of hers. 

"I will go," she said and gestured towards her dragon, which had rested almost invisibly on the lake bed. 

"No need, might I ask what it was that has upset you so?" He seated himself across from the woman, who meant so much to his people and thus him.

She looked at him for a moment then answered: "I was crying to the breaking of one of the greatest bonds of love I have ever experienced. Two foreigners came to our shores not long ago. They were both great warriors, one the mentor of the other in the art of war, one the mentor of the other in the ways of love and humanity. The odds were set against them from the beginning and I feel they have been for a long time, because they took it in stride. They fought the tool of Mikaboshi that has terrorized these lands for so long and defeated both his worldly armies and destroyed him here in the realms of the kami. But their sacrifices were great. One gave up the last of her innocence and became a person of wisdom instead, the other gave up her life and redeemed the last black mark of dishonor on her soul by defeated the monster her teachings had begun."

The goddess shook her head at the memory of what had happened only a few days earlier on the top of Mount Fuji, while Hachiman himself recalled the two warrior women that had dealt with the problem that had plagued his people for years. He hadn't really kept an eye on them after the destruction of Yodoshi. Their task had been done and he had expected them to take the way out that his servants had pointed them towards. Was Benten telling him that something else had happened, while he hadn't been looking? "Go on, please," he asked.

"As the sun sank and all tasks had been done the older warrior Xena by name chose that she should remain dead to ensure the 40000 souls, she had released into the grasp of Yodoshi by setting Higuchi on fire, were avenged. Her partner left these islands without her soul mate at her side. I felt their bond while still strong in spirit weaken and their tender love for each other endangered by their broken hearts. I cried here today because of the cruelty of their destiny… You know we gods of love are rather emotional," she said and again motioned to rise.

"She chose to remain dead, dooming her soul to stay amongst the kami," Hachiman mused. The woman had somehow gotten the notion that vengeance served some honorable purpose. It didn't, vengeance was just apart of a vicious cycle of behavior and beliefs that was entirely separate from honor. Honor was served by acts, but there was little honor to be found by serving the purpose of vengeance. He had thought after perceiving the memories of the blonde warrior woman that they both knew that and had even spoken of it many times in their past. He realized that the older woman's guilt had gotten the better of her and had managed to even override her otherwise impeccable good sense. He had made sure that they had received instruction from the Ghost Killer on how to resurrect the older warrior woman and had even risked placing a blessed katana in the hands of Yodoshi to ensure that his purpose and theirs had crossed enough for them to handle the problem of Yodoshi, redeem the last black mark on the black haired warrior's soul and even allow the little warrior woman to come into her own after being held back for too long. But cultural differences had cheated them all and now no one was entirely happy except him.

"I apologize. I think it is my fault Benten. I guided the pair here, because they were the only ones who could solve our problems. I had ensured they had all the elements to resurrect this Xena, but apparently her personal guilt overrode her love just this once and so we have a mess. My code does not allow me to leave this matter unattended. I will find the kami of the warrior and set her on a path that will lead her back into the arms of her partner. I swear on my honor that it will be so," he said and was rewarded by a brilliant smile from the eight armed goddess. 

"You should go on the ship that has set out from Higuchi this morning. The warrior bard chose to leave our lands as soon as she could. The memories are probably painful to her. The kami of her partner will be at her side," Benten suggested and waved for her dragon to rise. "I think there might be more to the woman's actions than what was said on that mountain top. I will go to visit the one who might cast some light on this. Akemi, daughter of Yodoshi, has gone to be judged by Emma-o and I will seek her there or in the lands of the dead," she climbed onto her friend and together they dove into the cold water, while the armored Hachiman mounted his horse and rode off into the skies to find the ship transporting the pair away from the place that they would probably regard as cursed well into their next lives.

Hachiman looked down upon the deck of the ship full of foreigners. The blonde warrior stood at the railing and gazed dejectedly into the water. Her eyes revealed that something had upset her recently. Upset her enough to cry at least. He looked around but her partner was neither visible in the real world nor in the world of the kami. Unseen he descended onto the deck and suddenly felt the faint traces of evil. Some demon had enacted some magic here. Quickly he sent his power into the mind of warrior bard, but he only learned that she thought that her mind had been treated to a vision of her partner created by her own grief. He learned that she had decided to go on living a life of adventure on her own, probably to feel that some traces of her old life with her partner still remained in her life. Knowing that the kami of the woman's soul mate had been here he turned his attention to finding where she had gone. 

Hachiman rode towards the shore. His senses led him to a stone not far from the harbor of Higuchi. Landing besides the rock his eyes began to track the traces of battle still existing in the wet sand. The sense of evil magic pervades the entire area. "Someone beat me to her," Hachiman cursed as he recognized the footprints of one of Mikaboshi's chief demons in the sand. 

"What does he stand to gain from taking her?" Hachiman mused and remounted. He realized suddenly as he flashed back to the memories he had seen in the mind of the blonde warrior memories of stories, memories of bloody scenes of violence and even memories of betrayals brought on by hatred. The dark warrior had fallen into the trap of evil and dishonor before. Her soul was filled with power way beyond that of all but the most enlightened monks, the best samurai and the vilest of evil creatures. Mikaboshi was seeking a replacement for his lost tool and who better than the one who destroyed his creature. Shaking his head and already laying out his strategy to deal with this new development the god of war commanded his mount to bring him to his home.

Benten smiled in greeting as the kami guarding the court of Emma-o bowed to her as she walked from the central hall. The old judge of the dead had been most willing to allow her entry to have a few words with the daughter of Yodoshi. She approached the rooms, where all the recently dead awaited their judgment. The souls freed from the grasp of the Soul-Eater were still being processed and so she found the white clad beauty sitting desolately on an ornate stone bench. The girl kept looking around as if she was expecting the arrival of someone familiar. A dark suspicion grew in the goddess of love and wisdom as she saw into the eyes of someone blindly in love with both herself and someone not meant for her. Akemi had died a child not knowing the wisdom of the heart and she had learnt little serving as a hore to attract souls for her father.

"Your name is Akemi yes," she asked and looked down upon the startled young girl. The girl's eyes widened in recognition and she nodded her head.

"Yes, oh great goddess of love, my name is Akemi. How may I serve you?" She said and smiling winsomely.

"I have to ask you some things about Xena the Warrior Princess. You know that she defeated your father. But when offered the chance she decided to remain dead and leave only her spirit to comfort her partner. She gave no reason for this except revenge, yet I know that she in life learned very well that revenge didn't serve any purpose. I hope that you will be able to give me some hint or reason, why she should choose against a life with her soul mate?" She looked down upon the suddenly pale girl.

"I didn't mean for it to be like that. I had hoped I unmade my shame with my final words to her. I didn't mean too I swear," the girl began crying and fell on her knees before her begging.

"What did you do?" Benten asked in a voice colder than she herself had expected.

"When I saw Xena again and beheld that she was bonded with someone other than me. I… I did something that I regretted as I saw what their devotion and power together meant. When we were following my father to the mountain, I hinted that I feared my doom coming if certain acts done by me or for me weren't avenged. I knew Xena well. Her dark side was always her nemesis, but I appealed to her light even in the old days and I knew how to get inside her armor. I wanted her to stay with me, so I thought if I subtly hinted at the consequences of not allowing for vengeance of the souls I wronged she would choose to remain dead and come here to live with me instead of her partner. I used her for my own personal gain like when I manipulated her to teach me her techniques. When I left the prison of my father's enslavement I realized my mistake and I tried to make her understand that she had redeemed both me and her. But I couldn't… I couldn't bring myself to tell her that she could freely return to life, that the existence of these souls didn't depend on them getting vengeance on her. I was just as bad as my father and if anything is going to doom me, it is that." Akemi looked at her, probably hoping from some form of forgiveness or maybe pity. Yet Benten had to look hard to find any emotion like that for the manipulative girl that had acted so selfishly and doomed a transcendent love for this lifetime.

"That will be up to the judgment of Emma-o. I think you acted selfishly and I know that even now part of you hopes that Xena will join you in the afterlife. But she will not. Xena even if she through your words remains amongst the kami hasn't left the side of her partner. I can guarantee you also that she will be returned to side of Gabrielle. Both Hachiman and I have decided that. Soon they will be rejoined and you will continue into the afterlife appointed to you by the Judge of the Dead," Benten explained and willed herself back to her dragon mount. It was time to seek out the god of war and Xena's soul. 

As she flew towards Hachiman's home she smiled at her success. She had already secured the permission of both Izanami and Emma-o that they lay no claim to Xena, so it would just be a matter of recreating the warrior's body from her ashes and infusing it with her soul to bring her back to life. As the ashes of the warrior rested with her partner that would work out just perfectly she thought as the simple but functional home of Hachiman appeared on the horizon.

Benten saw that his mount was tied outside still sweating from exertion and she walked up to his door and beckoned for entry. "Come inside," Hachiman's voice came from afar. Walking slowly to take in the rare view of the inside of the powerful god of the people's home, she walked to his side. Hachiman was sitting in an indoor garden surrounded by some guards and servant, who were serving him a meal. Benten waited politely wanting to allow her host to eat before continuing with the business at hand, but Hachiman seemed to have little patience and he waved for her to join him. As she approached she noted that the warrior woman's was nowhere in sight.

Possibly noting the curious look in her eyes Hachiman said: "I fear that I haven't been able to retrieve Xena's soul yet. It is just a matter of time of course, but for now it is beyond our reach." He seemed to regard this as only a minor problem from the tone of his voice, but Benten decided that she had better find out what had gone wrong instead of blindly trusting the machinations of the male god. He might lose sight of the fact that the soul of Xena had a living and aging partner and let too much time pass unnoticed. She asked: "What happened?"

"I fear that Mikaboshi has decided to take the vanquisher of his tool as his next," Hachiman explained. 

She only barely kept her face from showing her dismay and surprise. This matter was very grave. Xena had according to what she knew a dark and dangerous side that made Yodoshi look like a mere puppy in comparison. Hachiman would probably be planning to stage some kind of grand rescue by one or more of his most heroic samurai, but in her mind a different plan was already hatching one that might work to the same goal and it was more likely to succeed as well. "So he has taken her to his realm," she mused.

"Yes, but do not worry. I have a couple of samurai just about good enough to go down into his hellish realm and bring her soul back to here. In a couple of mortal years everything will be just fine," he said and shrugged.

"A very good idea my friend, now you don't mind if I set things up so that it will go more smoothly," she asked to make sure he wasn't offended, if she solved the problem without him.

"By all means," he offered.

With a gracious bow the goddess of love and wisdom swept from the room and soon was once more atop her dragon flying south towards the ocean and her home below its waves.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: 

The first thing Xena became aware of was that she was surrounded by darkness. She wondered for a few moments where she was. The last thing she remembered was some red-skinned creature attacking her. It had managed to pin her to the ground. Some kind of red glow had enveloped them and she had been knocked unconscious. 

Now she found herself alone in the dark. The creature had probably kidnapped her for some purpose she surely wouldn't like. Most likely it had something to do with her new spirit state or something like that. Xena knew that she wasn't well versed in the nature of the afterlife in these lands, but she was fairly sure that getting jumped by some red demon wasn't standard fare. And since she still existed and was in possession of all her faculties, the demon or some other entity wanted something from her. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't be in her best interest to give them that something. Otherwise, they would just have asked kindly. In the end, she reasoned she had a simple mission ahead of her: she needed to figure out a way to escape and get back to Gabrielle.

Xena began examining her pitch-black surroundings with her hands. The floor felt cold and a lot like smooth stone, much more the floors in a great hall of a castle than some sort of dungeon. Slowly, to avoid hitting her head against any obstacles she might find, Xena crawled forward to search for some kind of wall and possibly a door.

Light suddenly filled the room. Xena blinked at the sudden glare and looked around. The floor was a beautiful combination of white marble inset with red ceramics tiles. She looked up and realized that she was in the middle of a huge throne room complete with columns that were so large, they disappeared into the sky. High above, there was no roof but a starry night sky and the walls were of the same beautiful white marble as the rest. Not far in front of her, a majestic throne seemed to have sprouted from the floor. 

A tall man with four arms and really majestic clothes sat there looking at her with his coal black eyes. At the foot of the throne, the red demon that had kidnapped her sat and picked his nose. "Come closer," the god commanded, and motioned for her to walk towards him.

This place wasn't fooling her at all. No matter the attention put into making the place look like a palace of some benevolent ruler, the god's personal aura of arrogance had already told her everything she needed to know about him. Still, she approached him, taking care to show no emotion. It might be helpful later if she acted like she went along with any plans he might have for her.

"Xena, I am so pleased to finally meet a butcher of your caliber," the god said in greeting. "I am Amatsu Mikaboshi. The god you now serve," he said as if stating fact.

Xena quirked one of her eyebrows, but she chose not to speak. This god didn't waste a lot of time.

"I am offering you the chance to redeem yourself in my eyes. You have destroyed one of my tools and I need a replacement. You're it woman, whether you like it or not," the god explained as if this was a small matter, one in which Xena had no choice and her acceptance was already a foregone conclusion.

"I'd like to see you try and make me," she said, and prepared to fight even against the heavy odds. She had fought gods before and while she was no longer a god slayer, that didn't mean she wouldn't fight. What he proposed would threaten her very soul. If she was ensnared to do this, then maybe one day Gabrielle would be forced to come to the shores of Japan to defeat her, much like she had come to kill Yodoshi. She would never disappoint her bard like that.

"I have ways of making you serve me, woman," Mikaboshi said, his voice nearly a hiss and his narrowed black eyes seemed to slowly illuminate with a red light from deep within.

"Gods never change, do they? You always want what you can't have," Xena said, and jumped out of the way as a red flash of lightning flew her way. But as she was about to evade the second one, her body seemed to freeze up and she was struck head on by the blast. Searing pain ran throughout her body or spirit and she fell to the cold stone floor.

"You're in _my_ world, you fool. Here I rule. You have chosen to defy my decision for your future. I do not accept that. I think we'll have to change your mind. I am sure that somewhere in it there is a monster I can still revive," he said and made a dismissing wave in her direction. Everything blurred to her eyes and she found herself in what looked like a wet dungeon room much like the one she had been in when she had gone to murder the Green Dragon and failed.

Hours passed as her shivers grew to a teeth clattering exercise. Her hands and feet felt numb and she forced herself to move around in the cold water just to feel a little warmth. But it didn't help much. Maybe the fact that her heart, body and everything else around her was spiritual matter rather than material was the reason she felt like she was really alive. Once again, Xena glanced around the room. The only openings she could see were small slits in the ceiling that let in a ghostly white blue light. Rubbing her hands against her shoulders to gain some measure of warmth and her mind racing in searching of possibilities, she almost failed to notice the appearance of a blurry image in the exact middle of the dungeon. Her eyes widened in recognition as she looked at it.

A blurry image of her bard clad in her royal red leathers appeared before her. Xena hobbled towards her. Before she could reach her, the image began to fade again. But just as it disappeared, the whisper of her bard's voice reached her ears. "Persevere," it said. And she swore to herself that she would.

Sleep had been impossible in the cold of the room. Xena felt worn as she tried to keep her shivering body from shutting down, when suddenly the entire room became bathed in blistering heat coming from above. The water began hissing and suddenly she found herself in the biggest sauna she had seen in her entire life or whatever she could call it.

A massive hole was suddenly smashed in the roof. Stone and dust rained on her as the water disappeared in the searing heat that should have burned her, but didn't. The muscled red demon dressed only in a black leather loincloth appeared on the now dry floor. "I have been given the task of guiding you back to your true self. I will be so happy to have the inner you as a friend, once we've worn all this civilization and morals of your soul," it said, and laughed in its deep rasping voice.

Xena saw her chance and charged towards the creature.

"Yes, come on then you ridiculous mortal fool, attack me. Oh, wait you can't," it said and snapped its fingers. Xena was unable to move. The demon began circling her. "Let's begin," it hissed into her ear. It put a massive clawed hand on her forehead.

The room fell into darkness, and then there was bright light. The smell of blood, sweat and soot filled her nose and the sound of war resounded in her ears. Xena found herself standing in her armor on a battlefield. She was fighting a man with her broad bladed sword in one hand and the Chakram held in another. He was dressed like a Greek or Roman farmer. The fight was unfair. She tried to stop fighting, but she could only look on as whomever controlled her body toyed with him, batting his hammer aside as he made clumsy attacks. Finally, she seemed to tire of the game, and kicked him to the ground. She stepped behind him and put her sword against his throat. With agony, Xena felt how she slit his throat and felt his warm blood run over her hand. She remembered this. This was her past. This battle had taken place only a few months before she had met Iolaus and Hercules.

"You were an inspired warrior," the voice of the demon said in her mind as she re-experienced her dark self swagger over to her celebrating army with a cocky smile, barely acknowledging Darphus as he showed her the treasure chest of dinars his warriors had pillaged from the surrounding lands.

"I was a hollow shell that knew neither love nor loyalty," she retorted.

"Those emotions are your weakness; look what they have given you," the demon said with anger in his voice.

Suddenly Xena's mind was flooded with images and her body remembered. She saw the birth of her son and how she gave him away. She felt the icy cold in her heart as Gabrielle demanded to be taught how to kill so she could avenge her husband. She felt the legionnaire break her legs with a hammer, and it just kept on coming as an avalanche of memories old as well as new battered at her. And she felt it all like it was happening again and again. But in a small corner of privacy remaining, she kept the many wise words of her bard continued to echo and so she persevered.

Time passed for Xena as she relived all the horrendous and angering moments of her life and she was boiling with rage, when she suddenly found herself back in the dry baked dungeon room with the demon. "Chew on that for some time," the demon said, and broke into a thundering laughter as Xena's eyes reflected the emotions seething in her paralyzed body. Just as suddenly as he had appeared, the demon leapt up through the hole in the ceiling. When he was out of sight and the hole had repaired itself, Xena could once again move. She fell to her knees and screamed. She screamed with rage, she screamed in anguish and she screamed for her poor tortured soul. For a while all she could do was lay on the ground in a catatonic heap.

Then, after another dimming of the light which seemed to signify night, the voice of her bard returned to her, seemingly coming from a far. "Remember the happy times," it whispered. And like prayer beads on a string, Xena forced herself to recount all the happy times in her life. She remembered the unbridled joy of her youth, the great times with her brothers and friends as she grew into a teenager. She remembered the many happy times that Gabrielle had given her as they had gotten to know one another and become best friends, as she had gotten the warm experience of watching another person grow under her tutelage from an innocent yet wise farmer girl into her wonderful and skilled partner. Again and again, she reminded herself of each of the important lessons she had been taught during her adventuring life with the bard.

Far away in another place, Benten leaned back. For weeks now, the demon of Mikaboshi had tortured Xena without relenting. The bond of love shared between the dark warrior woman and her partner had allowed her to reach deep into Mikaboshi's realm of the underworld and awaken the memories of love and good that the evil god was trying to bury under an avalanche of pure rage. By now, she realized that even if she continued to help the warrior sooner or later, either Mikaboshi would find out and block her, or the bond would be broken and then the warrior woman would become the worst plague this nation had ever seen. As long as there was no way for Xena to escape on her own, there was nothing she could do but put off the inevitable. Benten thought long and hard. She then decided on another path just as dangerous, but it might have a chance of succeeding.

Xena had completely lost track of time. Every time she had gotten even a short amount of rest, the red demon returned to her cell and the torture started again. The creature showed her all the gory scenes of her warlord past and forced her to glory in them. And when she resisted even a little, he showed how her way had damaged her. Today it had chosen a particular painful memory to regurgitate…

Xena charged into the amazon village, her soul filled to the brim with anger and vengeance. Only Gabrielle's blood could satisfy her burning need to avenge her son's demise. No amazon warrior or friend could stand in her way. Neither Ephiny nor Joxer mattered as she relentlessly and methodically pursued her prey, the weak creature that had cost her the beautiful child she had never told that he was her son. She smiled icily as the rope snagged the bard from her feet. She forced the horse under her to charge forward. Behind her, the bard was brutally dragged through fire, wood and plants. Her body was battered bloody by the rough rocks as they headed towards a cliff. Here Xena planned to toss the corpse of her former friend away and go back to live her life one day of war at a time. 

"But that wasn't what happened," she thought, and remembered what had happened after. She even recalled the many months of careful dancing around the issue that had followed, and only been resolved when they had watched Hope die at the hands of her spawn. Her bard would carry those inner wounds forever and they were her fault.

"Why won't you understand?" The demon screamed and slapped her, sending her thin paralyzed body across the room. "Remember the pain," he commanded and left the woman writhing at memories of all her battle injuries and their cause. Then he willed himself before his master.

"She still resists. The love between her and the other warrior is unbreakable. I haven't seen anything like it before," the demon bemoaned.

"Of course, they're soul mates. That bond is unbreakable as long as she hangs on to her path in life… Maybe we can use it against her," Mikaboshi said, and his eyes narrowed in thought. "Here is what I want you to do," Mikaboshi went on to explain his cunning plan.

Xena slowly opened an eye. The painful memories had barely faded, but she realized that not only was she able to move but she was also alone. The demon had made a mistake and now she had the chance to escape. Quickly she wobbled over to the gigantic hole in the ceiling and forced her muscles to carry her up into a massive jump. She landed in another room obviously meant to allow an easy view of her as she lay exposed in the dungeon below. Even the light she had hoped was some indication of day or night turned out to be strange blue torches instead. Hurrying forward, her eyes sought a way out; a path out of this hellhole and back to that place she recalled somewhere in her jumbled memories was important to her.

As she slowly regained her bearing, Xena continued to search for some window or opening that would take her closer to freedom. She wandered the cold dank halls until she heard two voices behind a heavy door. Slowly, she slipped up next to the door and listened intently to the conversation.

"Why hasn't she broken down yet? Why can't you break that ridiculous bond between her and that blonde weakling?" A very familiar voice cursed. Xena's memories, still jumbled from the unrelenting torture that she had suffered for so long, still managed to conjure up the face of the owner of the voice. Akemi's image appeared in her mind and suddenly she remembered the conversation they had before setting off after Yodoshi. Akemi had hinted at her fear of her soul becoming doomed if Yodoshi was defeated. She had indirectly convinced her that it was right for her to stay dead; to finally find rest and maybe resolution for what she now knew had been her greatest sin. Akemi, who now appeared to be on the side of her captors, was in the next room. Xena's eyes narrowed and flashed with anger.

"Don't order me around, girl. We took your suggestion of your father's replacement for good advice and freed you from the confines of Emma-o and his justice. But not even your good services in getting us this warrior have given you the right to command me. Why don't you just admit the real reason you wanted that woman to remain dead and come here amongst us damned," the voice of the demon said and the sound of a weak slap followed. The demon laughed a little and Xena assumed Akemi had tried to impress it with an outburst of anger. Anger that she was feeling as well.

"I serve Mikaboshi like you, and I am interested if my old friend will be joining forces with us," Akemi said.

"Really why then do I smell lies, jealousy and maybe unrequited love all over you?" the demon asked in a taunting voice.

"Damn you. Yes, I love Xena, but that bitch wasn't faithful to me. Not only did she go out and find a new lover, but she had to out do me in every way. She was beautiful, damn it! And Xena treasured her higher than her own life. She changed Xena. I want my Xena back. I want the Xena that is my puppet. I want the bitch that will kill if you glance at her wrong. And then I want her to kill that insolent little bitch that thinks she is a poet," Akemi ranted, but Xena didn't care. She was seeing only red. 

With something sounding almost like a growl, she kicked the door off its hinges and charged into the room looking for a weapon. On a table beside the two surprised occupants of the room was a katana. Xena grabbed it and expertly drew a deep and long wound across the chest of her surprised torturer seemingly killing it, before turning on the bitch that had cost her the life with her partner.

Not noticing that the demon behind her was mumbling magic words and tendrils of evil energy was infusing her with power with each step she took before the cowering Japanese poet.

Xena's eyes became red and glowing as she drew up her katana. In her mind, all the memories of slaughters of times past flashed by and she relished them. "You're going to die piece by piece. You are welcome to scream," Xena hissed and drew up the katana to cut of the head of her betrayer.

"Please, Xena. I can love you better than that blonde. Please, Xena, I can make your new existence so pleasurable," the girl said and tried desperately to arrange herself to seem alluring.

"At least die again with some honor, you lying cow," Xena said and swung the katana towards Akemi's exposed neck.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: 

            The steel edge of the katana cut through the air with a whistle. Akemi's bared throat approached quickly. Guiding the blade, the Conqueror awoke from years of slumber and had once again taken control of Xena's body. Even further back, the red demon servant of Mikaboshi gloated as he was about to add another minion to the ranks of his master.

Then, unseen by the eyes of all the room's occupants except the raging Xena, Akemi's image changed to the youthful visage of her partner. Gabrielle's teary face looked up at her and her eyes seemed to ask why she was angry. Why did she have the right to be angry? Why did she have to kill in the throes of that anger? A chill exploded throughout her body and she slowed her attack enough to hear Gabrielle's voice in her mind. "Flee now. They have given you power now. That power is yours to use as you please. If you run now, they can't control you like before," her voice said. Reason returned to her mind and for the first time in a long while, Xena saw beyond the fog of pain and suffering that had been pulled over her eyes.

The katana stopped to rest against Akemi's throat. The still seemingly angry Xena looked down at her, deadly intent etched on her face and evident in her eyes. Then just as suddenly as she had attacked Akemi, Xena whirled around and beheaded the red skinned demon stand behind her. The illusion of Akemi disappeared like smoke but Xena didn't notice as she ran from the room and its dead occupant.

She rushed quickly down the huge echoing hall. Her eyes constantly looked for a way out, while her mind hunted for an explanation to the continuing visions she had of her bard, when Gabrielle was probably far away in another world. The grey stone hallways echoed with her steps. Suddenly, as she rounded a corner she found herself facing a door and two blurry shadow creatures guarding it. Without hesitation she charged them, yelling her battle cry.

Xena landed between the two creatures and easily sidestepped their clumsy charge. She parried the sword coming from her right with the katana, while hammering her boot into the chest of the creature on the left, sending it to the floor several feet back. No matter how incorporeal they looked, she seemed able to hit them well enough. Xena's sword was locked with the creature's sword and for a while they struggled, pressing their weapons hard against each other. But Xena had moved her left foot back and suddenly she stepped aside, while moving her sword away. The creature stumbled forward. Xena swung her katana high and brought it down on the neck of the shadow decapitating it in one sweeping motion.

The other creature charged her from behind. But the always prepared warrior princess simply flipped over her assailant and landed with her blade resting against the throat of the blurry creature. After a slight pause she pressed the blade against its throat until it backed out on the other side.

While the two guard creatures were evaporating like smoke in the background, Xena pulled open the huge door and found herself looking at a staircase that lead up towards a path of gloomy sky much like an overcast night. She carefully walked up.

She was standing on the battlements of a huge castle set in the middle of a nightmarish and desolate landscape, akin to areas she had seen near volcanoes or after earthquakes. It looked devoid of life and hospitality. More importantly, it gave no hints to a way for her to return to Japan and eventually to the side of her bard.

"Don't give up hope. Trust your instincts… Come to me," Xena turned her head to find the transparent image of her partner floating not far to her left. 

"Who are you? You're not the real Gabrielle," she asked.

"There is no fooling your bond, when your mind is free to think for itself, but I knew that already," Gabrielle's image blurred. It shifted into the image of an eight armed beauty that Xena didn't recognize. "I am Benten, the Goddess of love and wisdom in the lands of the rising sun. I am responsible for the visions you've been having, although most of the time I've just been awakening old memories," she explained.

"Why?" Xena wondered aloud.

"I am the goddess of love. I felt the bond you share with your bard like a bright light passing through my lands. I cried when I felt your choice diminished it and I wanted to save the vestiges of it from Mikaboshi. Listen, we do not have a lot of time. My power here is very limited and I can do little more than speak to you through the bond of love that you share with your bard," Benten said and looked around as if nervous.

"I need a way to out of here," Xena pointed out.

"Yes, however I fear that without the direct intervention of another god and one of those isn't forthcoming, you will have to fight your way to the gates out of the underworld on your own. Mikaboshi will send a lot of warriors after you and this realm is very dangerous even without pursuers," Benten explained.

"Just point me in the right direction," Xena said and looked down towards the ground. It was going to be a hard landing.

"That way," Benten said with a hint of a smile on her full lips and pointed towards the horizon. "I'll be looking in on you from time to time," she said, while Xena climbed onto the edge and prepared for the long fall.

"Good luck," Benten whispered as the black haired beauty disappeared into the bleak landscape below. She returned her consciousness to her body and leaned back in her beautiful oceanic home. Satisfied that the worst danger to the soul of Xena was banished, she turned her mind and hand to her duties as goddess.

Xena ran relentlessly across the hard-packed ground towards a set of hills that would give her some cover for a few hours of rest. Her clothes were mere rags and the only object in her possession was the battered but still razor sharp katana. For months now, she had traversed these lands. Never eating but feeling no hunger either. Never sleeping as she needed only rest once in a while. Her spiritual body behaved differently than her human one that was for sure. Existence in these bleak lands was still a constant though. Mikaboshi had hunters out looking for her and skirmishes with them had become a daily ritual. And that wasn't the only danger. Soul eating monsters and worse roamed the land like animals had roamed her home valley. They were vicious creatures and fighting them had cost her more effort than any of Mikaboshi's soldiers. Xena sat in the small ravine between the hills and took a breather. On and on she had traveled across this land seeking the way out that the goddess had promised her. She was slowly losing hope just as she had lost all sense of time.

"You have come far," Benten's voice whispered as her eight armed image shimmered into view sitting at her right side.

"Yeah, but don't tell me. I still have far to go, right," Xena sighed heavily.

"Well, actually I wanted to tell you that you're not far from the way out of these lands. The gates to the world of mortals are that way, just beyond that small mountain. You could reach them in a short span of time," Benten pointed at a small mountain that Xena had used as a landmark for days. 

Xena rose from the ground and was just about to go on the last leg of her long journey, when the goddess said: "Don't be in too much of a hurry. The gates are too heavily guarded for you to break through from this side. The guardians of that path will not feel the sting of the blade you carry. They are nearly gods themselves and therefore can only be wounded by special weapons."

Xena dropped back to her seat and gave the goddess that had been her only contact with the real world throughout all her struggles in this hell a despairing look. "Then how am I going to get out of here?" Xena asked.

"I have planned for that eventuality. A few days ago, I arranged for a demon to fall in love with the sister of a very powerful samurai, who owns a weapon that could slay the guardians of the gates. The demon has kidnapped the girl and is crossing the gate as we speak, with her brother and his loyal warriors hot on his heels. If you defeated the demon and took the girl from it, I am sure the samurai won't object to your kami joining them on the trip back through the gate," Benten explained while smiling at the thought of her complex long term plan coming to fruition. She had promised Hachiman that his samurai would have the motivation to go into Mikaboshi's realm and that his warriors would free Xena along the way. This way there was little risk of anything going wrong as long as Xena could take the poor girl away from the demon.

"I better go then," Xena said and rose again.

"When you're back on the other side a friend and I will be awaiting you," Benten said and her almost solid image disappeared in a shower of sparks.

Xena leaned against the boulder and looked down at the gully where a huge bronze gate set into the mountain wall dominated the landscape. One of the two doors was open and a seemingly miniscule shape of a black and hairy demon with a girl over his shoulder was passing through it. One of the many tireless armored creatures that guarded the gate quickly closed it, while Xena slipped down the cliff to find a spot out of their sight where she could deal with the demon.

Xena hid behind a boulder around the corner and waited. 

"I beg you! Let me go," the voice of a young girl pleaded.

"No, you will be my bride. Mikaboshi will bless our union," the demon said, his voice ringing with stubbornness as they approached.

Xena heard the subtle grating of the sand as the creature had almost lumbered past her hideout. Quickly she jumped up and sideways into the air. She saw her target below. It had the girl slung limply across its right shoulder. Xena readied her battered weapon in her left hand as she came down towards it.

"Huh," the creature grunted and looked up.

The still sharp weapon slit down through the creature's left shoulder and continued far into its chest. The creature screamed in pain and tossed its precious cargo aside as it struggled to turn to face its attacker. 

Xena tore her weapon from the creature and kicked it to the ground. It began melting into slime, something that no longer fazed her after having seen similar effects many times recently. Instead, she turned towards the girl that was frantically scrambling away from her. "Please don't be afraid. I am here to bring you home," Xena said and held out a hand that was accepted after a long pause. 

In the background, Xena heard war cries and the clash of weapons. It seemed her ticket out of this hellish place had arrived. "Come, I think your brother has arrived," she said and together the pair ran towards the stones that still hid the gate from view.

Xena looked over the edge and saw several samurai on horses struggling with the obviously powerful guardians. "I think we'd better make a run for it before someone gets hurt," she explained. "Whenever you're ready," she suggested and waited until the girl had run out of sight before following her over the stones and towards the battle.

The chaos of battle, that so nourished her dark half, was all around her. Xena slashed the dangerous creatures as she passed them by. Her attacks had no effect, but they did stop the creatures from slaying more of the brave samurai that were only here because a god deemed her soul one to be saved at the expense of their lives. Xena shook off the dark thoughts and tried to keep up with the young girl as she practically flung herself into the arms of the band's leader. "We have what we came for, quickly head back through the gates," he commanded. No one paid much notice that she followed along as the guardians worked hard to kill the invaders. Xena ran through the dark tunnel and so didn't know that with each step she grew more ethereal until she disappeared from any mortal's sight just as she passed out into a beautiful forested valley surrounded on all sides by tall grey mountains.

"I am pleased to see you," Benten's voice rang out from nearby. Xena walked down to find the beautiful goddess seated on the back of a dragon floating in a roaring river like it was a still basin. 

"As am I," a new deeper voice joined them from her left. A samurai lord dressed in full armor and seated atop one of the most impressive warhorses she had ever seen rode slowly into the clearing.

"May I present Hachiman, god of war and all the people of this island," Benten said and indicated the samurai.

"The god of war yet you're interested in the people. That's a welcome change," Xena said. "So what happens now?" She asked and looked around at the two gods.

"You return to life," Hachiman said.

"But… I can't. The souls of all those people will be lost," Xena gasped in shock.

"No, they won't. That is where you were wrong. Their vengeance over you had no effect positive or negative over their judgment in the courts of Emma-O. Their souls' existence surely had nothing to do with you being dead or alive," Benten explained.

"I was the one who guided Kenji's steps to you and your friend. It was me who made sure that the ghost killer revealed the way for you to return to life if your quest and the one of your friend were successful. I believed you would take the way out that I had given you, but the conversations you had with Akemi a young child unlearned in all the wisdom of the world lead you astray and so you're here. It is my doing that you're dead and so I have arranged that you can return to life and live it out at the side of your friend. If she is still alive," Hachiman said.

"What happens now?" Xena asked and looked from Hachiman to Benten.

"I will take you to where your ashes rest and then our power will return your body to life and bind your kami to it. From there you're on your own again," Benten said.

"I am not alone. Gabrielle never gave up on me. I will not give up until we're together again," Xena swore.

"I know," Benten said and smiled at the endearing woman before she motioned for her to join her atop her mount.

Rain was battering the valley. Eve hurried through it, trying to stay at least a little dry. She was carrying a bouquet of flowers that she intended to lay on her mother's sarcophagus. The old one had probably wilted by now and she wanted her mother's grave to look good. She didn't really know why.

Eve walked into the dry chamber where her entire family now rested. The coffin for Gabrielle's body was there, but it held nothing. Everyone thought that she had died either with the Amazons or in some far off land living the life of a hero without Xena the Warrior Princess to protect her. Eve wasn't so sure, but she had taken precautions so to fulfill the promise of their family to treat the little blonde as such in spirit at least. Sighing, she walked over to the other sarcophagus that held little more than a small pot of ashes inside. Sometimes she wondered if she should have their sarcophagi remade into a one and show how they lived and in a way died: Together forever. 

In hindsight Eve fully realized that the one thing her mother had that was just as strong as her love for her was the love for Gabrielle. In more ways than one, Eve understood it. She herself had felt the nearly irresistible charm and pull of Gabrielle's personality. Here was a woman capable and fulfilled by living and sacrificing for the good of others. She was in all ways except pacifism the epitome of how an Elijian should be. And she had foresworn her own chance at a family to raise her. All the stories of the past said so and thus in a way, she had lost more than one mother by now. At least on nights like these it felt like that. After laying down the flowers Eve grabbed the old ones and walked back to the entrance to cast a glance at the rainy weather that still continued.

"I miss you a lot. Strange isn't it, you were my mother for such a short time yet I can think of nothing I want more than to have you here or even out there roaming this world. I could even have settled for having Gabrielle around to guide me. It is so hard sometimes. The past weighs on me like it did on you. It would have been better if one or both of you were around to tell me what I was doing wrong… Still, the hospice is doing well and I think the movement is growing even without a bedraggled former roman warlord going around to preach its merits. You would have been so proud of what I have built out of grandmother's inn," Eve mused like she did so often when visiting this room.

A massive crash almost like an explosion rang through the room and strange sounds came from inside. Eve whirled around and ran over to her mother's sarcophagus. She stared in shock for a moment as she heard an eerily familiar voice scream from inside. She grabbed the heavy stone lid and shoved it off the stone box. With a resounding crash, the stone plate flew onto the floor and the flickering light of the torches revealed the naked, pale and desiccated body of a woman that should've been only dust. Eve cast a glance towards the other empty coffin and then the door just to check if miracles happened twice. She quickly tore off most of her clothes and wrapped it around her mother's body for protection against the weather. "I don't believe it. Thank you Eli," Eve muttered as she easily slipped the long but light load into her arms and set off towards her hospice. 

The images of memory began to blur and Xena thought she heard foreign voices speaking the same language of her friend Lao Ma. "She is coming to," a voice said. "Tell general Wu," it continued.

In a place no more than a few days travel from the camp of the Imperial army, a group of men looked on as their shamaness cast herself into the throes of a ritual. She was invoking the spirits to guide them in war and make the path of the future clear again. Jenn cried out in ecstasy as she slit the throat of a horse and allowed its blood to spray all over her, while the tied animal shuddered and whinnied in pain. 

Voices rang through her mind. Voices from the past of her people talked to her. They showed her the future, the mind of her enemy and the way of their war. Voices grew in volume and order gave way to chaos. Jenn began to shake as the ecstasy overcame her and unconsciousness was thankfully soon approaching. Then mighty voice screamed, "Beware, the maker of your bane has awakened! The claws, fangs and soul of the Tiger are rushing to join with its dragon to bring forth the end of your dominion!"

And with a scream of pain, Jenn collapsed inside her wooden fortress just at the mouth of the valley that was home to the dragon.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: 

            "So how is she?" Wu asked the healer as they approached the tent where the still unnamed woman who claimed she was the friend of the Little Dragon rested.

"She is still a little weak, but she is recovering at an amazing pace. And she is also a very impatient woman. We are already having some trouble keeping her in bed. She was already asking questions about where she is and who we were, when I left the tent," the healer lamented.

"How soon will she be up and about?" Wu asked as they stopped outside the tent.

"Three days at best if she will listen to my advice," the healer explained and drew the tent flap aside to allow general Wu entry.

Xena looked up as a familiar Chinese man entered her tent. She remembered meeting him in Chang'an. He was the grand general the monk had mentioned in his tale of Gabrielle's life as a Chinese general. He had mentioned something about leaving with an army, meaning that she had somehow ended up with them. As they had been connected to Gabrielle, these people were all potential allies.

"I see that you have returned to the land of the conscious, my unnamed guest," the general said, and sat on a small chair previously used by the healers.

"Yes, General Wu. I will be using your beds a few more days, but then I'll be on my way," she said defensively, thinking he wanted her to not be a guest for much longer.

"You seem to have me at your advantage. You know my name, but I am afraid I don't know yours," he pressed.

"Oh…" Xena suddenly realized what he had meant. "My name is Xena," she offered her hand to the general. He however remained seated and unmoving.

"I had hoped you would be honest with me. We were both friends of Gabrielle. It is well known to us all that Xena the Warrior Princess has been dead for years," he finally said.

"I was dead, but my soul was returned to life by the gods," she insisted.

"I…" He had been about to repeat his lack of belief in the fantastic and then remembered where it had led him last. "Is there anyway you could prove it?" He looked at her and waited.

"Yeah, but it'll have to wait," Xena said when she realized that she didn't have the strength to make any big demonstrations right now.

"Of course," he said and rose from his seat. "We'll talk again," Wu said and turned towards the tent flap.

"Count on it," Xena added and dropped her tired body back to the bed.

A couple of days passed, while Xena contemplated how she had ended up in a healer's tent amongst a part of the Imperial army of Chin. She realized now that she had been trying to kill herself with neglect. She had let her grief and darkness overwhelm her once again. She had forgotten about the many months of pure survival in Mikaboshi's torture chamber. She had forced away the memories of her unending battle across the barren fields of the Underworld dodging the evil god's hunters. She had been oblivious to the fact that she still had a daughter to live for. Her egotism had barred her from dealing with her grief in a normal matter, just like it had when Lyceus had died. 

As she again lay in a bed and had nothing to do but rest, eat and sleep, these things became clear to her. Gabrielle had always demanded from her that she should move on with life in case she died and not use it as an excuse for anything. Still, there was the matter of her promise to her bard. She would retrieve Gabrielle's body from the dragon that had taken it and return it to Amphipolis to rest in her family's crypt and wait for the day their souls were rejoined by reincarnation.

"I am fine," Xena said and gave the healer a glare as he examined her again.

"You need to eat more than usual for awhile," he explained.

"I am a healer too. I know how to care of myself," she said and began putting on her armor and weapons.

The healer watched her in silence then as her back was turned said, "What you did was intentional."

Xena didn't answer; instead, she left the tent. She cast a glance the camp around to get her bearing and maybe catch a glimpse of her horse Nike or general Wu, whom she planned to convince of her identity.

The warrior princess walked casually through the camp feeling just as much at home as if she had been in the middle of her mother's inn. But her senses weren't looking out for soldiers challenging her authority or enemies lurking in some corner. She was seeking the man that she intended to use to get back her friend's body. Like always, she found his tent by looking for the biggest one.

Being a keen judge of character, the looks of his tent and in fact the entire camp didn't change her mind at all about the general. He was an exceptional man with a powerful and disciplined mind. Fortunately for these lands, he chose to serve the empire instead of conspiring to bring it down a task he was more than capable of if she had gotten the right impression from his soldiers, camp layout, the discipline displayed by his men and the way he had been when he had visited her. Of course, the fact that her bard had befriended him also said a lot about him and she was sure that she would like him although for different reasons than Gabrielle. Xena stopped politely before his guards announcing her presence politely to him. She was sure it would go down better than stomping his guards into the ground, not that she had considered it… much. 

"Xena," Wu said in greeting as he joined her outside.

"That is what I am here to prove," she asserted with a quirk of both eyebrows.

"Proceed," the general said and looked at her with curiosity.

Xena nodded and unclipped the chakram from her belt. Wu's eyes narrowed in thought at the sight of the legendary weapon but said nothing. Xena drew the razor sharp ring back and tossed it forward.

The Chakram flew forward. It hit a tent pole, broke it and continued off at an angle. It hit a coal pitcher and lighted it with sparks. It clipped two spears. The Chakram separated on a breast plate, each half flying off in different directions. One flew a good way and bounced off a guard's helmet, the other flew a bit shorter ricocheted around between Wu's bodyguards then flew off and rejoined with the returning other half before Xena caught it casually.

Wu nodded. "Join me in my tent… Xena," his eyes revealed that his doubts had been somewhat allayed for now. She judged that she couldn't make too outrageous claims or demands yet, but if she worked with him a little he would soon believe the truth. 

Xena seated herself in a chair that the general's unobtrusive attendant had directed her to. Four chairs surrounded a beautiful cherry wood table. Xena felt that the seating arrangements weren't typical of how she had judged this brilliant strategist. It reminded her lot more of someone, who wanted everyone to talk and share ideas as equals.

"It was Gabrielle's. The Emperor gave it to her as thanks for saving one of his ports. I kept it after her…" He looked into her eyes and Xena knew from the sadness in them that he blamed himself for her death. She thought that he deserved the grief and said nothing to comfort him.

"I want to bring her body home to Greece," Xena said with conviction and looked for a reaction in his expression.

"Why? She was carried away to rest in a holy place. The Dragon would never allow anyone to defile her grave. Besides, if the Dragon feels strongly that it should act as the guardian of her remains, it would be very dangerous to approach it," Wu rose and paced slightly.

"Gabrielle and I made a promise to each other. She didn't fail me and I don't intend to fail her again," Xena explained in a clipped tone of voice, not bothering to follow the pacing general. She figured he would explain to her what he was working up to in a few moments.

"There is another problem. And it is a bigger problem than any objections to your quest from the dragon. The witch Jenn formerly Temudjin's seer has taken control of a large remainder of the Mongolian army and has marched back to the valley of the Dragon. So far, they have for some reason not entered it or recaptured the Dragon, but I fear that it won't be long before that happens. Then we would be right back to the situation Gabrielle died to prevent. The Mongolian could rally around a new leader and we would be facing a new invasion sometime next spring. I wouldn't be bringing the army here on the cusp of winter otherwise," Wu sat back down.

Xena felt many different conflicting emotions war within her. She wanted more than anything to get her grim task behind her, but the thought of someone undoing the work that Gabrielle had been such a large part of just didn't sit with her. It lighted many fires in her soul and it appealed to her sense of justice to act. "If I may, I would like to help you," she offered.

"I don't know. If you really are Xena then I guess I couldn't ask for better help. But still, I just don't like to give command of my warriors to some stranger," he pursed his lips in thought.

"Why don't I make it easy for you? I don't want command of any soldiers. I will just make myself useful and give a little advice now and then," Xena said and rose.

"Deal," General Wu said and offered her his hand, which she promptly clasped in acceptance before leaving the tent.

Xena had barely walked a few feet when her keen senses detected someone watching her from afar. Deliberately, she turned her eyes and found herself looking at a handsome middle aged man dressed in typical high ranking officers' clothing. Atypically of most men, he didn't do much more than blink in surprise as her azure eyes locked with his brown ones.

As if resolving something, the man strode in her direction and stopped a few feet away. "I am Chang. I was a friend of Gabrielle… Xena," he said and bowed his head to her.

"How do you know who I am?" She could hear from his voice and see in his eyes that he felt no confusion about her identity.

"Gabrielle and I were very close for a long time. After her death, I spent a lot of time studying all the copies of her writings and spoke a lot with Master Fong about her. You were a frequent subject in both her writings and speech according to him," the young officer explained and smiled, although a tinge of sadness didn't leave his eyes.

"You miss her," she realized.

"I do. Her soldiers do. Fong does. Mai does. Wu does. Gabrielle wasn't the kind of person you could let into your life and then ever forget. I try every day to recall how her nose wrinkled when she smiled, even if that only happened rarely. How she loved to bathe. How she would savor any kind of food that she hadn't tasted before. And even how she could be in the middle of a battle with blood staining her clothes and still try to keep even the lowest of her troops alive. She is dearly missed by us all. But if even a fraction of what I've learned about the bond you shared is true, then the loss must be almost unconquerable for you. I came over hoping to offer a little comfort in these dark times," the earnest man stood aside and motioned for Xena to follow him.

Chang led her to a wagon and small enclosure behind his tent. A plainly dressed woman was feeding a perfectly white horse while humming a song. "That is Ghost, Gabrielle's steed and now in the faithful care of Mai. Wu had her brought on this campaign so that he could free the horse to roam in the valley that her body and spirit rest in. Mai is pretty much the only one other than Master Fong that could handle her and he is getting weaker by the day. Old age seems to finally be catching up with that old rogue," he explained.

The young woman that Xena recognized from Fong's story as Gabrielle's maid blushed a little as Xena intensely studied her and the beautiful horse. It seemed wiser and calmer than Argo and maybe a little smaller, but in the end it had probably been a perfect match for her little bard. 

"If you want it, I am sure we can get Wu to release it to you," Chang offered.

"No, Wu was right. It would only be proper for a horse to be with its mistress. I think I'll be taking it back to Greece. It can stay in Amphipolis, where Gabrielle is going to be buried," Xena said with finality, more to herself than her audience.

"I would also like to give you these, milady," the maid whispered and offered Xena a heavy bundle wrapped in silk from inside her clothing.

Xena gave her a questioning look and an arched eyebrow.

"I also recognize you from your partner's stories. You are unmistakable. It makes me very sad that your bodies couldn't be reunited. But Gabrielle swore to me that your souls would be together forever," she explained.

Xena opened the silk bundle. A couple of pieces of silvery metal as well as some black leather fell into her palm. It was the crushed remains of Gabrielle's Sais. Saying nothing, Xena closed her fist around the cold metal and walked off to be alone.

Staring out at the slowly moving mass of soldiers as they slogged their way through the deep mud these last few days of rain had created, Xena had forced herself away from the dark memories of her times with Borias as they attacked Chin. She spurred Nike on when she saw Wu seated on his big warhorse come closer.

"You should turn south at the next crossroads and avoid that range to the northwest. It'll snow by the time we get there," she explained.

"I hate going into battle under these conditions," Wu muttered. "I'll give the necessary orders. Did you see anything else out there?"

"Nope, but I'll go out again as soon as I've gotten supplies," she said and looked off in the direction of the valley. It was less than two days riding from here now. The end of her travels awaited her in the near future. The list of tasks to finish before going home to her daughter was becoming shorter.

"We'll make camp out on that plain before pushing for the valley," he explained.

"Let me get the lay of the land and find out where Jenn has her base and troops," Xena offered and made Nike walk off in search of some quartermaster with some supplies for her next scouting trip. For all her apparent drive, each step of her horse reminded her of all the time she had spent in that saddle these last few days. Her body was tired and she felt in a way that it was good she was ending her adventures soon. She was feeling older by the day. She had felt it a couple of times after India but not until she had heard the news of Gabrielle's death had it struck home. She was getting old. Her bard would have entered her 28th year of life this week, if she had counted the days correctly. She was over ten years older than her and she could feel it in every joint and muscle as she continued riding through the cold rainy day.

While his servants were just leaving the newly-raised tent, Wu sat down to look at the old maps of the mountainous region he had led his army into. The region had never before been of much importance to either the Empire or the Mongolians until now, so the knowledge of the area was as sparse as the area was populated. He knew and had related to the alleged Warrior Princess the legends of those mountains and especially the valley that they sought to find and protect.

Legend told that the hills and forests of the mountains that towered on the northwestern horizon were the home of both dragon and many other minor gods and spirits in the shape of animals. The spirits were supposedly material instead of immaterial up there and according to one storyteller, there were many secrets hidden by the will of the heavens up there. Until a half a year ago he would have thought such claims mere tales told to scare and amuse children and to give treasure hunters a new mad quest to waste their lives on. Now, after having a good friend die because he had failed to heed her warnings and forcing her to take matters into her own hands, he had learned not to dismiss those tales anymore. 

Even more so when he was now being accompanied by someone who according to all tales and stories told by credible source had died several times and had returned to life, like death was just a border that she could cross at will. He had explained the legends to the warrior and knew that she hadn't quite dismissed them nor quite believed them either. She like him needed to see to believe, everything else was just hearsay. He had found that trait quite admirable in her. Wu sighed and turned his eyes away from his daydreaming contemplation of the tent cloth and back to the maps of what could soon be a battlefield.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: 

            Xena rode through the forested uphill landscape. Her hair was clinging to head from the increasing and ice cold rain. She shivered slightly from the cold wind following her up towards the pass. It would according to the map she had perused back at the camp lead her onto a large plateau, which they were expecting Jenn to have made her camp if she hadn't already set out for the dragon's valley that lay just beyond a small pass accessible only from plateau. The gray light of the rainy day was slowly giving way to a gloom that would soon turn into a black moonless night. She spurred Nike on, hoping to at least reach the plateau before she had to make camp.

She lit the fire behind the cover of a stone to prevent its light from spreading too far. The carefully chosen campsite was expertly lain out and Xena hoped that the bird she had hit with her chakram earlier would be burned crispy like the one she had tried to make yesterday. Calmly she sat watching the flickering yellow and orange of her fire and thought about better times.

The rain was clearing up and the sky began showing the stars in between wisps of cloud cover. Luna began casting her pale white shine over the lands as Xena nodded off into a light slumber.

Xena looked out over a sand dune. A breeze carried the scent human sweet mingled with the silt carried in the wind. She didn't understand how she had gotten there. She had been making camp in the middle of the Chinese wilderness now she found herself here dressed in the white dress she had last worn when they had fought the romans with Kahina. Suddenly she realized that someone was standing at her shoulder. Slowly Xena turned her eyes to look at the delicate form of her bard clad in her desert clothes. Her heart began to beat and she found herself wishing that this wasn't some dream like she suspected.

"I was afraid I would never see you again," her bard said and turned those emerald eyes, that Xena found herself longing look into every day, over to meet hers.

"We both thought I was gone for good. There was no way either of us could have known," Xena said and saw that no resentment for her or her flawed decision lived in the green depth looking back at her.

"I could never stay mad at you for long. Not even when you tortured me on my birthday," Gabrielle said with a wry smile on her ruby lips.

"I want to stay with you forever," Xena said and felt her eyes water. Her entire body ached to stay here with the one she missed with every breath in that other world.

"So do I," Gabrielle grew serious, "but you can't. You have to go back. It is the way Xena. Trust me." Gabrielle reached out and touched her chin.

"Always," Xena whispered as her eyes opened. All around her there was only the same trees and bushes. The same sounds of the wind passing through them that had lulled her to sleep. She remembered her dream and shook her head, wondering in passing what had awakened her in the middle of the night. Then she became aware of a presence nearby. Someone or something was looking at her if her instincts were still to be trusted.

Xena forced herself to remain calm and listened carefully to the world around her trying to discern the position and identity of whoever was watching. She listened to and slowly filtered out the sounds of the dew and rain falling from the leaves and branches onto the ground. She focused beyond the sounds of wind over grass and leaves. It was all reduced to her breathing and the deep and slow sound of her stalker.

Further away someone stepped on a couple of branches and Xena heard whispered voices as a couple of men speaking in the dialect of the Mongolians she learned long ago from Borias drew near. The sounds were followed by the sound of something else disappearing into the night making only very soft sounds as it drew back into the wilderness. Xena quickly rose and picked up a few things before making her way into the bushes herself.

"Are you sure the tracks lead this way?" One of the Mongolians a rather large man wearing a heavy and wet bearskin asked the other a greasy rail thin man that was currently busy examining something on the thin path that Xena had used on her way up onto the plateau.

"Yes," the thin man sounded irritated, "now stop asking me stupid questions. Jenn has ordered that we kill any Chinese scouts."

Neither of the men noticed the Warrior Princess calmly observing them from one of the larger trees close to them. The rustling leaves were more than adequate to cover for any noise she happened to make. The two men walked to stand almost exactly below her hideout.

"Why?" The large man asked and took a draught of something Xena could easily smell was not water from a wineskin. 

"I didn't ask and neither did you if I remember correctly," the thin man said and took the skin and sniffed its opening before having a drink too.

"Alright so what is the plan?" The larger man asked.

Xena grabbed hold of the large branch she was seated on, made a handstand and swung herself down.

The thin man blinked in surprise as he saw a tall woman in armor swing herself down a branch and smash boot heels into the face of his partner in crime sending in several feet away. The woman landed just in front of him.

Xena drew her broad sword and whirled it about. Habitually a grin appeared on her face. All dark thoughts and doubts disappeared as the promise of battle made her blood run warm with fire.

The thin man drew his sword as well but chose to slowly circle his opponent.

Xena realized the simplistic plan of her opponent almost as soon as he had taken the first step sideways. The fool thought his chances increased if he could maneuver her around so his compatriot could attack her from behind. Still smiling cruelly she chose to play along if only to make fools of her opponents.

They had nearly reversed positions and Xena heard the man behind her stumbling towards her at high speed. The thin man suddenly stepped forward swinging his sword down from overhead. Yelling her battle cry she vaulted up and over the surprised looking marauder coming at her from behind as he managed to barrel right into his friend's swing with his head. One gushing blood the other looking decidedly sick the pair collapsed in a disorderly mess on the ground. 

The thin man struggled to get up from under his dying partner, while reaching for the bloody sword he had dropped. His finger stretched towards it. They just managed to reach the pommel, when she stepped onto his foot and looked down at him casually her face showing the pale light of the beginning dawn. "So glad I could drop in. Now how about you tell me everything," she offered pleasantly and deliberately placed her sword against his neck.

Xena held the man in front of her. "Where did you come from?" She demanded in hissing and dangerous voice.

"I can't remember," the thin and now pale soldier replied. 

Xena didn't even bother to retort instead she opted to release her hold on him and before he could recover push her fingers hard into each side of his neck.

"I've just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You'll die in thirty seconds unless you tell me what I want to know," she explained while staring coldly into his eyes.

In a choked voice he replied, "We came from the fortress on the eastern shore of the small sea to north. It's just below the entrance to the valley."

"Has Jenn captured the dragon?" She asked and narrowed her eyes.

"No, no, we can't get into the valley. The spirits and the three times cursed animals around here have stopped us every time. They aren't fooled by Jenn's tricks either," he explained, while a thick drop of blood ran out of his nose.

Xena, who like always had counted the seconds in her head, suddenly undid the pinch and then brutally slammed the man into unconsciousness. She didn't even bother to check his partner the open cut into his head precluding the presence of any mind or life in him a long time ago.

Xena swung herself into Nike's saddle with ease not even bothering to look back at the unconscious soldier that she had left tied to a tree on the outskirts of what had once been her camp. She rode into the early morning hoping to be looking at the fortress that her victim had told her lay just below the mouth of the entrance to the valley of the dragon.

Xena carefully crawled up to the area, where Jenn's people had apparently cleared away to forest. The entire area around a small freshwater lake fed from the surrounding mountains had been cleared of vegetation and offered no cover for any would-be spies or armies to sneak up on a town-sized construction that sat on a hill surrounded by several wooden palisades and ground filled with sharpened stakes. On the other side a forested mountain side led up to a small and narrow pass in between seemingly unconquerably tall mountains topped by clouds and ice. The fortress looked like it had only one entrance there was as far as she could tell only two ways in there either a frontal assault along a narrow and easily defendable road that looked like it had only recently been made or the equally dangerous path of attacking along the shore and hope that the defenses of the fortress were weaker around the back way. Xena decided to shift her position to get a better look.

The shore side looked from her new hideout to be slightly less guarded than the direct way, but the sharpened stakes would have to be removed and the walls breached if any assault along that route was to be successful. The walls were constantly patrolled and way to high for her to jump and to slick from the rain to scale unnoticed. She abandoned any hope of ending this quickly be driving a sword into the witch sometime tonight. 

Xena gazed up at the pass that Jenn and her soldiers had been unable to conquer so far. She realized that while Jenn had guards and spies posted all over these hills and mountainsides she could easily slip into that supposedly enchanted valley and retrieve Gabrielle's body and leave all this war behind. But if what Wu predicted happened then the entire war that Gabrielle had fought in, the battles she had fought even her death would have been for nothing. She just couldn't do that to the memory of her friend. Xena sighed and made her way back to the place she had left Nike tied.

As she made camp for the night Xena looked up at a clear night sky and remembered how these dark times had begun. She had been listening to the breath of Gabrielle as she, as she so often did, sat looking at the night sky and enjoyed its spectacle. She had felt content in her life, yet also like she needed to change their lives. She had been feeling older than ever and she had felt they had been stuck in a bad phase, where past mistakes meant more to them than the promise of the future. 

It had felt like that since their unfortunate adventure in the Norse lands and it gotten worse after getting a view of life if Xena had become Caesar's wife and empress. Now she looked up at the skies against and wanted nothing more than their simple life back. It had been a life of adventure yes, but also a life full of simple and wonderful things like late night conversations, noticing the little things about each other that made them happy or even just the sharing of the greatest things nature and mankind could bring forth. She missed it so much she felt all hollow inside.

Suddenly she realized that there was something big that had actually managed approach very close to her camp without her noticing. Not wanting to bother with another waiting game she jumped to her feet, while drawing out her sword and grasping her chakram.

"Relax," a load growling kind of voice came from deeper in the night than her eyes could penetrate.

"I don't like being spied on," Xena explained but made no move to lower her weapons.

"I did not come to spy on you. I came to talk," the voice said and Xena became aware of a huge shape approaching almost soundlessly through a couple of bushes. It was only slightly smaller than Nike, but she still couldn't discern what it was only that it was by no means human.

"Where I come from the animal don't talk. Why don't you come out from behind your ventriloquist act and show yourself," she said and looked for some kind of rider for the pony-sized animal.

The creature stepped into the light of her campfire. It was a tiger, a tiger as large as a horse. She had seen the dangerous predators before in India, but this was the first horse sized white tiger she ever seen or heard of. 

"I am not an act human. I am Chen, the grandfather tiger," it said. Xena's eyes widened in surprise and her jaw fell open for a short moment.

"But… you're speaking," she said. It lay down besides her campfire, while keeping a good distance from Nike that seemed frightened into absolute immobility.

"I am here to ask you a favor human," it grumbled.

"My name is Xena," she said and moved around to keep the fire between her and the beast.

"Ah. Well met then Xena. I want to ask a favor of you. The one who considers himself the rightful ruler of these mountains has sent an army to push away those who seek to slay the dragon and presumable my people as well. Do you know how to find them?" It asked and looked at her with its inhuman yellow eyes.

"Yes, I am helping them," she admitted.

"To help is a noble sentiment that too few share. Now I ask you to help them survive," it said.

"What?" Xena's eyes narrowed as she tried to contemplate if it had been a threat or not.

"The witch that leads those barbarians has secret sent out her assassins to the other side of those plains that your army is camping on. Before nightfall tomorrow they will fall upon the camp with strict orders to kill only officers and poison all the supplies," it explained and rose from the ground again.

"I have to ride now," Xena realized and began gathering up her possessions.

"Yes, you must. I will come as well. I have to exchange words with the one you call general. I know many things that he could reap great benefit from knowing," it explained.

"The guards will probably react badly to any huge tiger trying to enter the camp," she commented while securing her saddle to Nike.

"Yes, but again by that time I will have worked up a hunger," it replied and chuckled. At least Xena hoped it was a chuckle even if it sounded more like a kind of subdued thunder.

Xena mounted Nike and together with Chen sat out into the night hoping to reach the camp with her warning before anyone was killed.

Riding in the night on a small trail was really hard even for Xena the Warrior Princess no matter what legends her bard had spread about her. Guided by the huge tiger running in front Xena made her way over the remainder of the plateau and came down the first pass towards the plains a couple of hours after sunrise. She had to stop soon after though. Nike just couldn't go on at this speed. It needed some rest.

"We mustn't tarry too long," the tiger said and paced around Xena, while she took care of her tired mount.

"Why do you care so much?" Xena wondered. "I mean you're a tiger and you've never met any one don't there. I don't understand why you care so much about them," she mused.

"I am a tiger spirit. The tigers protect the people of Chin together with the noble dragons," he explained.

"If you say so," Xena replied and checked Nike's hooves.

"You should understand. I see it in your eyes in the way you behave. You are also one who fights for others. You're too aggressive to be a tiger, but you do remind me a dragon. You are wise, dangerous, capable of great destruction yet careful not to unleash it. I know you're a great warrior I watched you traveling through the plateau," it explained and stopped pacing.

"Let's continue," Xena vaulted back into her saddle and set off towards the camp that was clearly visible as a black mass in middle of the high grass from even from the mountainside. 

"We will be at the camp after the sun has passed its highest point," the tiger commented as they continued down the light forested path towards the plain.

"Yeah," Xena replied and looked stiffly ahead. Her back ached from the cold night of riding and she wished nothing more than for this wretched adventure to be over.

They were on the last stretch. Xena had Nike in a gallop and Chen seemed be running at full speed. Suddenly Chen stopped and turned in the direction of the wind and took a long sniff. "Someone is sneaking through the high grasses over there," it said. Xena could see its muscles tensing and its paws dig in.

"Don't attack just yet?" She cautioned.

"Are you afraid that I might get hurt?" Chen replied.

"No, I just want in on the fun," she answered back with a feral grin and spurred Nike into another wild dash. Chen soon caught up. Xena could see the guards of the camp tracking her closely as she rode around camp and headed towards the spot indicated to her by Chen.

The tall grass rustled as she hurtled forward. Ten yards in front of her a green clad figure suddenly rose with a blowgun at his lips.

She swept the poisoned dart out of the air casually and flicked it away, while steering Nike directly towards the startled man with her heels.

Nike rode him down and a series of wet crunches came from beneath her warhorse. Several figures maybe ten in total appeared out of the grass with their swords draw and bows readied.

Chen somehow managed to avoid detection till the last moment when he appeared out of the grass and scooped up one of the assassins up in his jaws. Another series of wet crunches was followed by a spitting noise. Apparently the grandfather of tiger didn't like the taste of northern barbarian.

Xena dismounted in a high jump landing with both weapons ready. She deflected an arrow with her sword and flicked her chakram off on a deadly flight.

The deadly disk decapitated one, rebounded on a couple of stones, split and the two parts slit the throats of two other assassins before reconnecting in the air looping in the air and returning to their mistress, who had used the time it was gone to disarm and stun one of her opponents.

Xena saw out on the edge of her vision, how Chen batted two assassins away with its huge clawed paws in a manner reminding her of how a cat plays with a captured mouse. She continued fencing with her opponent until one of his compatriot charged her from behind. Xena drove her opponent's sword up and then made a rolling kick that took out the opponent in front of her and landed her behind the suddenly confused man who had been charging her. 

"Behind you," she indicated and slugged the fool in the jaws as his turning head presented her with an easy target.

She turned around soon enough to see Chen pounce on the last standing assassin mauling him while crushing him under his enormous weight.

"Not bad for a little light entertainment," Xena commented to which the tiger only snorted. She couldn't tell if it was for amusement or dislike.

Soldiers from the camp were already approaching, so she decided to leave the mopping up to them and instead concentrate on getting Chen safely into the camp to speak with General Wu.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: 

            For once the camp was eerily quiet as she entered it. All around people stopped and stared with jaws opening in surprise, while the more fearful disappeared into tent or dove for some kind of cover. Apparently a pony sized tiger was something to fear Xena thought with a little glee as she guided Chen towards Sun Wu's tent.

"The leader of this army lives in that," Chen asked in surprise as he looked at general Wu's command tent.

"Yup," Xena said, "I think I'll go in and smooth things over before he meets you." She nodded pleasantly to Wu's cowering bodyguards and slipped past the tent flap into the warm interior.

"Ah Xena, I am glad to see you back safely. How are things up on the plateau?" He asked and indicated with a sweep of his hand that she should sit at his table.

"Jenn has spies and small bands shattered up there, but they won't do much more than harass the army. I am a lot more worried about the fortress she has taken the time to build up there. It is large, has several layers of palisades and the ground outside is either well guarded or filled with sharpened stakes. Her guards are careful and as far as I could see there is easily room for a several hundred soldiers on the inside. My guess is that she has chosen to place the fortress over a well so if we don't brake down the wall quickly this could turn into a siege being fought in the middle of winter," she carefully explained, while indicating positions and places on Wu's map of the area.

"What about the valley? Is the dragon safe or should we worry that Jenn has already caught it?" He asked.

"Well honestly I don't think she'll recapture it. From the information I got from her men they haven't even set foot in the dragon's valley this time. But don't take my word for it. The dragon has sent a friend of his with some messages. He's waiting outside. I could call him in," Xena couldn't help smiling mischievously.

"Alright," Wu said.

"Chen, would you mind popping your head in here?" Xena asked out loud.

Wu heard fearful gasps coming from his guards then followed by a large head pressing its way past the entrance. His mouth fell open and he nearly choked on his own spit as an elegant tiger's head with jaws easily big enough to bite off more than half his body in one bite came into his tent. The tiger's golden eyes carefully looked over his tent until they came to rest on him. Involuntarily he swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat and then slowly began gathering his wits again.

"I am Chen the grandfather tiger. I come to you by request of my noble friend Chui-Lung the dragon that shares the valley with us. I am here to help and protect you as is the task of all great tigers," Chen explained in its growling imitation of human language.

"I see. I am Sun Wu, general of this army and all other armies that the Emperor sees fit to use against his enemies. I am honored to meet a noble protector such as you," Wu said and bowed deeply.

Xena observed that the tiger didn't seem comfortable with the honor bestowed upon it, but accepted it as if it was a part of a vital ritual. A thought struck her as her mind thought about how Jenn the witch had been incapable of entering the valley of the dragon. "How did you know that Jenn had sent out assassins?" She asked before thinking.

Chen studied her for a short moment, and then said: "We captured one of her leaders. He was convinced to share this with us."

"How, if I may, are you going to be helping us?" Wu asked almost meekly.

"I have lived and hunted in these lands for many ages of humankind. I will show you the ways in and out, I will tell you where your enemy is hiding and when the battle comes I will join you on the battlefield and destroy your enemies one by one," Chen explained.

"Right," Xena commented.

Wu gave her a cold look that she had often seen before in recently converted religious folk. She forced herself not to sigh.

"Alright now that I have all I need all that remains is for me to get this army up into those mountains and ready for an assault on that fortress," Wu mused and glanced over his maps.

"I am afraid you're must be quick about it. The winter is coming fast and even worse the spirits say that if you don't defeat the witch before three days have passed from sunset tonight then your victory is no longer secure," Chen said.

"What do those spirits base that on?" Xena asked.

"They are the spirits, they can see past, now and future. I do not question them neither does the dragon," it quickly explained.

Xena thought she had heard the intonations of a lie in the tiger's voice, but with it being a tiger she had no way of being sure and chose to let her suspicions stay unuttered.

"I'll set the preparations for our departure into motion and have the officers prepare the men for a forced march," Wu said.

"We still need to figure out how we're gonna get into that fortress," Xena commented.

"Yes, but I am sure we can figure that out as we go along," Wu said and rose. He left his tent after bowing to Chen and edging past his huge form.

"You don't approve," Chen declared.

"Nope, I think we should at least have a battle plan before we head into the area. From the stories I heard of Sun Wu he sounded like a very cautious man," she mused.

"I think you're right. I believe that general Wu already has a plan and that he doesn't trust either of us with it," the tiger suggested.

She considered it and realized that Chen was probably right. A man that had waited months for the right moment to strike in the middle of a bloody war wasn't as frivolous as he tried to appear right now. He either had a plan that he didn't want to share or he had been influenced from the outside. Nothing suggested that the latter was the case so she assumed that he already had a plan and let it be at that. "I think I'll go take care of Nike," she said and left Chen with his head still inside the command tent, while her mind silently added: "And then later try to find out what Wu is really up to."

Xena roamed almost soundlessly throughout the army camp looking for some hint or clue to what the illustrious general was really planning. At first she didn't have any idea then things began adding up. Here and there she found wooden beams and bolts that had been recently cut and made. She found coils of rope being prepared in liquid and a large supply of Greek fire bought from the romans if the labels were any indication hidden amongst the supplies. Wu had come here prepared for a siege and was readying to build catapults as soon as they entered the plateau. He hadn't told her instead opting to keep her out of the loop to avoid any risk of her being a particularly clever and brazen spy. She admired his skill and forethought, while also contemplating how best to use these catapults when they reached the witch's fortress. If she had any say in it.

She looked on with amusement as the large Chinese army began the long trip up the mountain towards the plateau and the witch's fortress beyond it. Xena sat casually on Nike and watched them go by, while Chen lay as a large lump of fur in the grass nearby. She was amazed that the tiger's presence didn't seem to upset Nike or any other horses anymore. Nearby general Wu and his staff discussed one of the many issues of moving an army along. Xena estimated that at the current speed it would still take two days before they could even think of attacking the fortress. Chen's deadline was fast approaching.

"So why are we in such a hurry?" She asked again.

Chen lifted his head and looked with his golden eyes. "I told you yesterday," he replied.

"No you gave a very mysterious answer about spirits. Honestly Chen if you want us to believe that you're really on our side and not some clever plant thought up by that witch then you need to tell us," she said and matched the unblinking stare of the tiger with one of her own.

"I can't tell you what I do not know," Chen finally said and rose from the grass. "We should get going. Or the army might have all the fun without us," he cautioned and gracefully began walking along the flank of the advancing army. 

Xena's eyes narrowed. She was getting better at reading the tiger and it would seem that it just told her that it had been told what to say while hanging around the army.

The army slowed to a halt as they came closer to the fortress. A day and a night the army had marched across the overgrown plateau fighting to gain time and defeat the enemy before the deadline given to them by the tiger. Xena had followed along most of the time, but as the night had drawn closer she had ridden out in front and delved into the dense foliage looking for ambushes and in the end picked the campsite where the tired army was now settling down for some much needed rest in the hope that they could attack the fortress that now lay only a couple of thousand yards away on the other side of a calm sea.

Xena stood the shore of the lake and looked at the fortress through the morning mists. There was no chance that they hadn't seen them coming, but for once stealth might not be what was needed. Already those of Wu's men that had ridden in the back of the various wagon or felt strong enough were building catapults.

"You were right," Wu said as he stepped down from the rock he had been observing both her and the fortress from for a few minutes.

"I was right about what?" Xena turned to face him.

"Which way was the best to attack the fortress from," Wu walked up to her, a sense of relief radiating off him.

"You still have doubts about me. That's why you didn't tell me about the catapults," she said and moved a little of her long black hair out of her face.

"Yes. I am not as trusting as I make myself out to be. Not with you or with Chen," he said and again turned to look out over the sea.

"If not why did we rush here then?" Xena saw small figures moving along the battlements of the fortress. It was probably the witch herself out to look at her enemy in the first rays of daylight.

"My scouts have been reporting increasing signs of winter and this part of the land is feared for its sudden and prolonged snowstorms. If we don't finish this soon then come spring there will only be frozen bodies here to try and stop the witch," he explained, "In the end I get to keep the tiger happy and my men moving, while believing they're doing a holy duty on the guided by the spirits of heaven. It was the best solution."

"That fortress will be a challenge," she said still keeping her eyes locked on the remote figures that seemed to be staring right back at them.

"It is only wood. It'll burn nicely if it can't be conquered," Wu said with no glee or happiness in his voice. "That will however be the last option we take," he explained at the look of disgust that had spread involuntarily across her face.

"What is the current plan then?" She asked.

"I don't know. I have to deal with those spike filled trenches without getting my men killed by the archers on the battlements," he mused and looked back at the side of the fortress that lay opposite the road.

"If I could borrow some of strong men with some picks and shovels can I remove the spikes," Xena offered and looked at the Chinese general. This she knew was the moment of truth. If he shut her out of the planning now there was nothing she could do but find an easy trail into that valley and hope that the Chinese army was still there when she got back out with Gabrielle's body.

"Done," Wu said and called one of his men over.

Xena didn't know if she should feel happy or sad. She had gotten herself fully involved now and so she would once again for the first time since she had been freed from her coffin join a major fight. Her eyes turned back to sea and watched the mists dissipate in the bleak winter sun, while she warred with her emotions.

Wu looked out over his assembled troops as the rested men looked out over the trenches that were still filled with sharpened stakes. Siege ladders, battering rams and cavalry men equipped with rope and grappling hooks were ready. Their catapults weren't finished yet, but hopefully he wouldn't need them. At least he wouldn't need them if the promise Xena had made yesterday morning was fulfilled. She had left the camp with ten men and no one had seen hide or hair of them since then. Chen seemed content to remain at his side and often reminded him to trust the black haired warrior woman. She would come through on her promise that the tiger claimed was guaranteed. 

"Sir, a rider approaches," one of his commanders said. 

Wu turned to see Xena enter the camp. She looked both tired and dirty, but unharmed. He walked back from the frontline to greet her as she jumped off her brown mare. "Is something wrong?" He asked incapable of masking his impatience. So far he had no idea, what the mysterious woman wanted to do about the many hundred stakes out there.

"No, nothing is wrong. Pull the men back a little bit and just watch the show. It should start any minute now," she said and smiled in a feral manner that he had never seen her do before. 

He thought it over and indicated to Chang that he should order the men to pull back a bit and hunker down. His eyes darted over the tall woman. She was cover in a light layer of grime and dust that mostly reminded him of sand. Then he looked back up the side of the valley where she had come down from. The landscape around the small pass was almost like a funnel lead up to it and the fortress rested at the base. Suddenly he realized what the woman was up to and managed stand his ground like her as what had previously been the sound of distant thunder suddenly revealed itself to be a massive rockslide precisely aimed at this side of the fortress.

Hundreds of huge rocks followed along by tons and tons of gravels rolled through the stake filled trenches at high speed, leveling them on their way down into the sea. A massive cloud of dust rose into the air as the rockslide finally subsided and everyone could shake the shock off.

"Quickly get everyone ready. As soon as the men can we attack," he ordered his officers and drew his own sword, while heading towards his horse. Unnoticed by anyone Xena did the same and leapt back into Nike's saddle. She wasn't going to let these men attack that fortress on their own.

The clouds of dust barely settled on the ground before the over a thousand man large army set in motion. With resounding war cries the army surged forward towards the waiting enemy atop their safer battlements.

Xena batted an arrow away with her chakram, while urging Nike forward. Somewhere in front of her on the ladders had been toppled and a mass of screaming Chinese soldiers crashed down at her side. She forced her mind and soul to ignore their plight. She didn't have the luxury of time to take care of them. She batted another batch of arrows aside trying to keep her and Nike unwounded at least for a while yet.

She rode along the side of the wall tossing the chakram at any enemies that were foolish enough to show themselves. She hoped it would be enough until she could find a ladder to climb. Far in front of her a ladder still stood against a wall. Somewhere behind her she heard the noise of wooden breaking as Wu's cavalry tried to pull a hole in the palisades. Xena cursed herself for not directing the rockslide into the fortress. She could have saved many lives on their side if she had been willing to sacrifice the lives of many inside the fortress. She launched herself into the air and whirled to land on top of a ladder. 

She flashed back to the battle amongst the burning houses of Higuchi almost hearing Gabrielle's voice urging her to go for the ladder as she dashed up towards the battlements and a melee where she could make a difference.

Xena landed on the wooden platform that was the Chinese only breech into the fortress so far. To her left and right several Chinese soldiers were fighting a losing battle against a numerically superior enemy. Carefully calculating her angles Xena tossed away the chakram right and then jumped over to join the melee on the left.

Xena landed behind the group of defending Mongols and jabbed her sword mercilessly into the back of one of the four soldiers. Only one of the remaining three disengaged from the fight with the Chinese soldiers to fight her. Xena didn't realize it, but she was smiling widely and her eyes shone with a wild abandon that unnerved the Mongolian soldier.

He swung his wide bladed sword at her from the left. Xena easily stepped blocking the sword with her own. She followed up with a full on haymaker from the left that sent the Mongolian careening of the platform and into the free air on the wrong side of the wall from his perspective.

Xena barely had time to see that the Chinese soldiers had dispatched the opponents as well when another group of enemies rushed towards them.

She pulled her sword out of the gut of another enemy that had obviously never learned not to try to make an overhead chop when your enemy was faster than you. Hearing its metallic scream she reached up in the air to catch the bloodied chakram. Suddenly she heard whirl and the sound of wood hitting a crossbeam. She had run out of enemies, but also of most of the Chinese soldiers. A fiery missile flew overhead. With chagrin she looked over the wall as the burning missile landed with a fiery explosion in the midst of the Chinese army. It would seem that the witch had some short range catapults of her own.

Xena looked out over the still mostly intact and unconquered fortress palisade and realized where things were going. As the second batch of fiery missiles passed overhead the call to retreat resounded all over the battlefield. She ran along the platform towards the ladder with several Mongolian soldiers in hot pursuit.

Xena stepped onto the ladder and kicked it away from the wall after ensuring she was the lone survivor of the troops that had made up onto the battlements. The ladder swung up and soon began its freefall towards the ground. Xena changed sides on the ladder and as it neared the ground she leapt off to the side landing almost ready for the mad dash as she headed for the forest and the place she hoped to find her horse again.

Hidden in a couple of bushes the tiger watched the Chinese retreat. "They failed…" It thought and remembered what it had been ordered to do now. "Now their lives will be in peril," it realized and sighed as it knew what would have to happen now. Chen turned and ran off towards the pass.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: 

            "Whoa," Xena yelled and pulled at Nike's reins making the sweating brown mare stop at the edge of the Chinese camp. She looked around and was not astounded to find the looks on the soldiers' faces considerably different from the days before. Their defeat had been visible across the river to the large reserve contingent that Wu had left to guard their rear and the catapults. Slowly she made her way through the camp to the site she had been using for a camp since they had arrived yesterday morning. As she began getting Nike's saddle and bridle off, she saw the soldiers that had participated in the attack begin to return to camp. Knowing that Wu would head to his command tent, if he hadn't been wounded or killed in the battle, she began making her way there.

Officers and healers milled around the area near Wu's tent. She walked purposefully to his tent. His usual bodyguards weren't anywhere in sight, so Xena took the chance and ducked inside.

Wu was seated in one of the chairs that stood around the table that had once belonged to Gabrielle. He was staring almost unblinkingly at one single spot of the tent fabric as if his eyes could burn holes in the material and reveal the fortress that lay hidden by it. "I don't want to be disturbed. Go away," he commanded without looking in her direction. 

Xena stood her ground and waited patiently.

"I said. Go Away!" He commanded again.

Xena allowed herself a small quirky smile then settled her face in its most dispassionate folds and kept waiting. She knew how defeat could rattle even the greatest of commanders. Wu struck her as a man unaccustomed with defeat and this one had been his fault in some ways.

"Damn it," he yelled, rose and spun about. His anger faded instantly as he came face to face with the Warrior Princess. The man looked a little like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but Xena forced herself not to smile as that mental image rummaged around her mind.

Still sullen the general dropped back onto the seat of another chair and asked: "What do you want?" in a tired voice.

"I wanted to know what your next move is going to be," she asked and carefully kept her voice neutral and devoid of recrimination. 

"My next move… Damn it, my last plan didn't go that well now did it. No, I had to rush in. I had to listen to a damnable speaking tiger and now a fourth of my main army is dead or wounded just because I didn't wait for my catapults to be finished. No I just rushed in. We didn't get into the fortress," he paused to breathe, but Xena just waited for the angry man to continue. Suddenly Wu jumped up and began pacing the room in rage.

"I am just so pissed off. Why did I do it? I had no reason except maybe my intuition. Another day that was all it would have taken then all those men, some of them even good friends of mine, would have lived now and tomorrow this mess would have been over," he raved and swept all his maps and quills don't onto the carpeted floor. Wu slammed his hand down into the table then suddenly turned and with tears in his eyes took a swipe at Xena.

She easily caught his hand and held it there. For a moment their eyes locked and Xena allowed him a rare glimpse into the emotions roiling in the depths of her souls as she called upon all her sorrow and guilt. Tears blurred her eyes as well as she remembered friends and loved ones long gone and for a while they just stood there his fist caught in her palm, their muscles no longer straining against each other, but their minds lost in the memory of the things that had happened to them and all those around them. Finally Sun drew his hand back and turned away from her.

After a few moments of standing there frozen Sun turned to look at her. "I seem to have lost my temper for a moment there. Thank you for being here. I couldn't allow any of my men to see me like that," he admitted sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"I just wanted to help," Xena explained, "Don't mention it."

"I won't," he said and sat back down. His eyes showed his debilitation even more clearly than his sluggish attack had earlier.

"I think you should catch some rest, before doing anything else. We can plan for our retribution later," she said and looked about as if noticing something for the first time.

"Where is Chen?" She asked.

Wu looked up at her and blinked. He seemed lost in thought then quickly rose to duck out of the tent. Xena couldn't make out what orders Wu gave through the general din of the busy camp, but she noticed that the general looked really angry when he returned a couple of minutes later. A servant followed in his footsteps with some food that he then placed on the table and left.

Wu waited patiently until the servant was out of earshot before speaking. "It would seem that our prophetic tiger has disappeared after we lost the battle. Chang questioned the men for me and many saw it battle ferociously until the last minute. But when the retreat was called out it just turned and left for the jungle again," he said and began eating. He gestured for Xena to follow suit and while she usually didn't like to eat much while discussing important things, the fact that she hadn't eaten for over a day made her hunger to large to ignore comfortably.

"That doesn't necessarily mean it is a traitor," Xena said between bites after reading Wu expression.

"It could be a good indication. Look the tiger suggested we attack today and it clearly abandoned us as soon as we were defeated. It isn't definite proof, but it's a hint," he said after drink a good amount of wine.

"Man fighting always makes me so hungry," he commented as he took a second portion from meat from the grilled chicken. Xena grinned wolfishly but didn't comment.

"At least it helped during the battle. Let's focus beyond Chen for a minute. I honestly would like to know what we do next," she asked and leaned back in the wooden chair.

Wu's eyes narrowed as he mentally went over their situation and weighed their options. "I still think an assault on the fortress is the way to go. If I commit all my forces and use the catapults to weaken their resolve then we could storm it within a few days. I am sure," Wu said. 

Suddenly someone approached the tent and Xena judged from the steps that it was Gabrielle's former officer. "Sir, a scout has return with important news for you," Chang's voice said.

"Bring him here," Wu commanded apparently not wanting to get up.

A few moments later a grimy and clearly sleep deprived Chinese soldier entered the tent. "General Wu," he saluted and returned to the rather wobbly stand of the really exhausted.

"Sit, eat and drink," Wu ordered clearly not wanting the man to drop unconscious before he had told what the important news was.

The man sat down and began telling his story while eating. "As I was ordered I have been watching the passes and roads into the plains that lead up to this plateau. Three days ago I picked up the trail of some forward scouts and followed them back. General, a fresh army is marching in from the north. They've the few open passes in the northern mountains to avoid the still intact bastions up there and are approaching fast. They could enter this valley already tomorrow evening. Their number is only half of our army, but I still believe that it was important enough to break of my patrol and return as quickly as possible," the scout explained and rose as soon as he had finished talking obviously not wanting to spent too much of Sun Wu's time.

"Thank you, please go and find a place nearby to rest. And send Chang in here," he ordered a voice loud enough for Chang that still waited around outside to hear it and comply. 

"Chang, listen up," Wu said, while rising to his feet as soon as the commander entered the tent. 

"I want you to take command of the camp and ensure the safety of this position and the catapults, while I take the fresh reserves to go rout the army that the witch has ordered here. If we don't stop it they will have us caught between the fortress and their army. I wondered why she didn't even bother to attack us, when we came here. Now we obviously have the answer. I have to leave immediately, if my plan is going to work," Wu said and began gathering up with already dirty armor and weapons.

"Yes, sir," Chang said, while Wu just walked past him with only a quick nod.

Chang stood stiffly seemingly shocked with the sudden authority thrust upon him, while Xena, who had merely observed the exchange and winced at the news of the oncoming army, just sat in a chair looking at him curiously. Far away she could hear Wu demand a fresh horse and telling a few officers that he had left Chang in charge.

"Well it seems that you're in command here, order and we shall follow you, oh great commander Chang," Xena felt strangely upbeat even if the situation didn't merit it. It was as if the air around them vibrated with vital energy. It felt like they were on the verge of a great thunderstorm and the lightning was already crackling above them. That was the single one thing that all her life with Gabrielle hadn't touched. She still seemed to crave the excitement. Gabrielle had been right, she enjoyed it. And that was probably the weakness that had led her astray in the first place.

"It is not funny, Xena," Chang sighed not noticing that her burst of good humor had passed already.

She looked at him, while berating herself that she had allowed herself to sucked back into a war and reawakening her war lust.

"I guess we better get this camp secured," he said and turned around.

"Excuse me, but what we are you talking about?" She asked and followed him as Chang left his general's tent.

"There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says: The one who can laugh in the face of danger must be ready to face it. I assumed that if you're able to make jokes at a time like this then you're also able to help me carry out my orders," he explained.

"There is no such proverb," she replied in a low voice.

"Are you ancient Chinese by any chance?" He turned and looked at her with his seemingly innocent expression.

"No," Xena said almost insolently.

"Then how would you know," Chang said and turned to continue towards the area, where they were building the catapults. Xena continued to follow his even as the eyebrow that had risen in surprise was still on its way back down.

Just a few yards out of earshot of the soldiers guarding the catapults Chang stopped and turned to look at Xena, while all around them the reserve soldiers were responding to Wu's orders and quickly gathering up supplies and gear to go back to guard their supply lines and hopefully beat back the oncoming invaders. 

"I need your help. I know from Gabrielle's stories that you're a brilliant strategist and leader. I am not. I want you to be around to catch any blunders before they cost any soldiers their lives," Chang explained.

Xena looked at him for a moment then nodded. "First thing is to get these catapults finished and positioned in firing range of the fortress. As soon as possible you should begin bombarding even if only with small rocks or dead animals," she suggested. 

"All the while get as many fresh men as possible to guard them and patrol our perimeter. The witch is sure to try infiltration maybe even a direct attack just as soon as she learns that her second army is on its way here," she explained and looked around at the camp to make sure that there weren't something she was missing.

"This might be the moment to remind you that my orders were to secure the camp. Not to reengage the enemy hidden in that fortress. I don't see what purpose it would serve to attack them right now either. The men aren't ready to storm the walls anyway," Chang countered and looked at her curiously.

Xena nearly sighed and had to stop herself from grabbing hold of the man and give him a more throughout explanation including a little scare. "It is called taking the initiative. If you don't pin them down using the catapults then they'll attack us and depending on how many soldiers are actually hidden inside the camp might get overrun or the soldiers demoralized," Xena said while staring into his eyes hoping that she could somehow will him to understand.

"I'll think about it," Chang said and began talking to one of the catapult constructors. Xena stalked away hoping to find a quiet spot and gather her thoughts after the events of the morning and afternoon.

The night was cold and the air filled with a thick mist. Xena looked up at the sky and only the pale glare of the moon shone greeted her. She had slept awhile after her conversation with Chang, but the emotions and memories that plagued her dreams had woken her up just a few hours after midnight. Slowly she moved along the shore of the mirror-like sea. She was steadily getting closer to the fortress. 

Xena stopped out of the view of guards and observed the torch-lit palisades that surrounded the compounds that she had glimpsed, while fighting on the battlements. A faint chanting reached her ears. It came from inside the fortress. Xena couldn't recognize separate voices but the sound and rhythm of the drums were unmistakable. Someone was invoking the spirits just like she had been taught by Alti. Some sort of aggressive act was sure to follow. 

Her sensitive ears suddenly caught the noise of voices speaking in Mongolian. Her eyes couldn't see the enemy so as she drew out her chakram, she closed them and let her ears guide her.

She perceived the sound of someone trying to climb down from the fortress on a rope. The voices she had heard were three men whispering to each other as they tried to slip away from the fortress and probably attack the Chinese camp under the cover of the mists. Xena threw her chakram in a path that would take it alongside the wall of the fortress. The sound of the men plummeting down to the hard ground greeted her. Her chakram had reversed somewhere in the hidden mists and came back after hitting the three men hard across the head. She caught it effortlessly and clasped it back on her belt.

Xena turned and wandered back towards the camp and the guards that were desperately trying to keep them safe even as the world around them was shrouded in white. 

The sun was burning the mists away. Xena stood besides the catapults that Chang had moved around the sea, where they could reach the fortress. He had split the fresh troops minus some guards for the healers, servants and wounded in two groups. A larger one that guarded the catapults and another that watched for any attempt by the army inside the fortress to attack their camp. They had been working hard to get into position all morning.

Chang walked up and stood on Xena's left side. He carried a small slip of paper in his hand. "I've gotten the first message from the general. It would seem that our supply lines have been cut. He is holding the pass that leads up here for now, but he has seen neither hide nor hair of the Mongolians yet," Chang said. 

"I've sent a message back telling him about what I am politely calling my initiative to protect the camp from attack," he continued, while crumbling the paper in his hand.

"I don't think they'll attack before the mist is entirely gone if at all," Xena said her eyes never wavering from the palisades.

"I guess not. I'm hoping it won't come to that," Chang started to explain, but Xena heard the characteristic noise of a catapult being released and pushed him down. A fiery missile flew across the palisade and landed just short of the army's position.

"Return fire! See if you can hit somewhere around their catapults," Chang commanded.

All around the tightly wound rope strained and wood sang as catapults were prepared and loaded with kegs full of Greek fire. Torches were held to fuses. The catapults rocked and sang from release as they launched their deadly load at the enemy fortress. The massive Chinese catapults obvious much larger and more powerful than the Mongolian ones hurled their missiles deep into the enemy camp.

Xena didn't bother with the boastful yell that came from the Chinese as their weapons hit their enemy. Instead she was looking around to see where she expected the army from the fortress to show up. Sure enough a few moments later a cavalry group thundered down the small road from the fortress toward the waiting troops. It was a lot smaller group than the Chinese spearmen awaiting them. "Something isn't right here," Xena said out loud as she realized it.

The catapults on both sides fired again and Xena's warning was unheard.

Xena looked around for Chang. He was standing by one of the catapults giving the men careful directions. 

Suddenly Mongolians fired again, but this time the number and size of the missiles was twice that of the Chinese. Firebombs and boulders hammered down into the unprepared Chinese soldiers. All around them a cry of alarm resounded and Xena could see Chang go pale with anger and remorse.

Xena strode up to his side. "Chang there is no way to withdraw without losing the catapults. We must attack now before we lose more men. Their catapults won't be able to kill your men if they're moving," she yelled over the roar of the catapult firing.

Chang nodded mutely just as he perceived over Xena back how another much larger group of cavalry was joining the first one. "Charge," he yelled to his officers. "Xena I'll go with them. I trust you. Save as many people from the camp as you can," he said with resignation and drew his weapon.

"We're not going to lose this. Stay here and command those catapults to hit the outside of that section of the fortress with all we've got. If we can breech into the fortress those cavalry men won't have any fortress to return to," Xena explained while smiling wildly. Chang mutely nodded and Xena felt the rush in her body as she dashed towards the fortress. Her body felt alive. Everything seemed suddenly in focus. It was as if something important was returning to her.

Overhead the thin cloud cover was quickly gaining volume and white clouds went gray and black even before Xena neared the area that she had flattened with her rockslide.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: 

            Xena skipped across the rough area of stone and loose earth, where the rockslide had cleared away the defenses and came close to an officer that had managed to control his soldiers in the evolving chaos that this battle had become.

"You there, get as many archers as you can together and get them to pepper the enemies on the wall. Tell them that it isn't important to aim just to keep them too occupied to fire back at them or the rest of us," she said in the command voice that was second nature to her even now years after having led soldiers into battle. The man didn't even take time to think about her orders. He just saluted her and ran off with a couple of his men trying to find some archers. Xena looked at his men and yelled over the battle noise: "Put your shields over your heads and follow me!"

The first rain drops began falling slowly from above. They fell gently towards the mass of Chinese soldiers braving the rough rubble strewn ground and the missiles fired from above as they made their way towards the still intact wall. A peal of thunder so big that it sent echoes from one end of the plateau to the other broke above them. Somewhere in the clouds lightning flashed and a mighty serpentine shape was briefly outlined by it although no one on the ground were looking up to see it. The gentle drops were joined by millions of others falling thick and heavy upon the battlefield.

"Strange it didn't look like rain a moment ago," Xena thought as she led a sizeable and growing number of Chinese soldiers towards the palisades. She barely noticed as her instincts picked up on another arrow headed towards her and plucked it from the air.

A woman looking slightly older then Xena dressed in leather armor and heavy animal pelts walked onto the battlements just as the Chinese began to move from their positions. A small group of officers were following the feared shamaness. Jenn looked out over the attacking Chinese barely acknowledging that the arrows were flying around her. Her sycophants each hoping to become her next Temudjin turned and looked as well. A wicked smile filled her blood painted face as she saw another plan coming to fruition. 

"The spirits have guided us well. The Chinese will not succeed even with the black haired warrior bitch on their side. I can sense her soul from here. It is strong but it is not capable of displaying that strength anymore. It is wounded and thus I will win brilliant warrior skills or not," Jenn said more to herself than her overly eager companions.

Suddenly Jenn seemed to shudder and her eyes turned white for a few moments. They returned to normal as she turned to address her officers. "Prepare the men. The Chinese will make a breech in the wall… over there," she said and pointed at a section of the wall. The men turned and ran off to fulfill her orders.

The rain began and lightning began hitting the ground and battlements. "Damn that accursed dragon and it's overly smart animal friends. After I have bathed myself in its blood, I will personally see to it that they all get turned into rugs for my palace," Jenn said and shook her fist at the sky.

Behind her the combined hit of a large load of stones and fire reduced a small section of her fortress' defenses to kindling. The Chinese would soon face their enemies directly. Jenn took out her thin yet razor sharp curved sword and made her way towards the place. "It is time for my would-be bane to die," she muttered to herself as she descended to the ground on the wooden staircase. 

Xena heard the heavy loads of burning oil flasks and stone fly over head and grinned as they hammered into a section of the Mongolian palisades. The catapults reduced the defenses to burning lumber scattered across the Mongolian camp that lay beyond. She sensed how the entire Chinese army saw their chance and began making their way across the slippery mud and stones towards the hole.

But there were still lives to be saved from Mongolian archers. So after a cursory glance over the area and some rapid calculations she drew the golden and metallic disk from her belt and threw it with all the strength her body could muster towards a big rock. Soon it had split against it and each of the halves headed off on a shrieking course around the fortress. Xena knew where it would reassemble and dashed as fast as she could towards the breech in the fortress defenses. Xena's eyes widened with dismay as a well prepared group of Mongolians did the opposite of what everyone expected and charged out of there in small disciplined units as if they had just been waiting on the other side of the walls for them to attack.

Chang saw the palisades crumble and fall from the pounding delivered to it by their catapults. But he also saw the mass of Mongolian infantry that charged out of there as if they had been ready for the Chinese damaging their palisades in exactly that spot. He sighed then grasped his sword. "Send the last reserves to the front and continue the bombardment," he commanded and jumped on to his horse. He couldn't face send this many people into battle and not join it himself. Even if it didn't look good for them right now.

Chang was following around the shore of the sea keeping an eye on both the men getting pulverized by the Mongolian cavalry and the army that had engaged the Mongolians by their palisade. Then his eyes caught something or several things moving in the forests just beyond the spot on the other side of the lake where his spearmen were facing a marauding band of Mongolian cavalry. It began with a warhorse suddenly getting spooked and tossing off its rider. Chang stopped his horse for a moment, when all of a sudden a tiger easily larger than the giant Xena had brought to see the general leapt from the forest and pounced on an unsuspecting cavalry man and his horse. The man and his horse were tumbled to the ground both looking to be in bad health. 

A group of giant tigers, bears and even wolves poured from the forest over there and with what seemed like a collective roar the 10 or so animals attacked the suddenly scared Mongolians. Chang turned his eyes towards the much larger battlefield and saw an even larger group of animals bursting from the forest with an even more resounding roar. Above them the dragon also roared in a voice surely heard miles away and hundreds of lightning bolts suddenly struck into the Mongolian fortress reducing large parts of its defenses and buildings to burning embers. Chang spurred his horse forward. His spirits were high for the first time these last few days. "I love it when bastards get what is coming to them," he mumbled as the landscape whizzed by.

Xena parried a sword as it dove for the man that fought next to her. She pressed it back and gave its owner a kick in the guts for his troubles. Her mind was for the first time in ages not locked on her grief or her loneliness. All doubts and fears were slipping away with each passing moment as she chose to loose herself in the battle. Everything was reduced to movement, muscles and pure instincts. 

Xena slugged a guy in the face sending him left towards a mass of wooden residue from the palisades. The rain pelted her so hard that it was running off her in small streams. Xena swung her sword out to her far right and took the arm of a man that had been trying to behead her from the side. She jumped up almost walking up the chest of an enemy, kicking in the face, swung head over heels and landed on her feet to see her latest victim crumble to the ground a few feet away. 

The Chinese and Mongolian armies were locked in battle a couple of yards from the breech. A slight sound alerted her to the arrival of an expected guest. Xena held her hand up to catch her reassembled chakram. Her eyes widened as a way too light load landed there instead. Slowly she drew her hand down to look at the meager half of her weapon that had returned to her. Mentally she rethreaded her throw and the position she was in. Everything was correct. The chakram should have been resting in her palm not just half of it.

"It is time for your life to end Warrior Woman," a female voice hissed at her. Xena lifted her eyes and looked into the ice cold orbs of the pelt and leather clad witch. The woman didn't look like she would be much of a challenge. She was wearing heavy clothing and her sword looked pitiful if sharp compared to hers. Most importantly her stance and muscle tone didn't match that of a trained warrior.

"My name is Xena," she corrected her and readied herself for battle, "You must be the bitch that is the cause of all this." Xena rushed forward swinging her sword.

And it found only air where her enemy should have been.

Jenn's voice coming from further away than expected said: "Ah, ah I think you'll have to do better than that to defeat me. I may not be as strong as the great Alti yet, but I can still beat you." 

Xena looked up towards the witch. She had, somehow without Xena seeing or hearing her move, made it three paces away from the spot she should have been in.

Xena jumped forward and flew over the witch. She swung her sword over her head, knowing that she should wound the witch as she twirled past her. She felt a jarring impact as her sword was parried and landed back on her feet facing towards her unwounded enemy.

"There is nothing you can do that I can't predict or counter. I will kill you and my rule of this land will be complete," Jenn said and screeched. Suddenly she appeared only a few feet away her sword swinging towards Xena's neck at a blinding speed.

Xena barely managed to parry it and jumped back in surprise, while mumbling: "I hate people with supernatural powers."

Then as the increasing rain seemed to still for a short moment the entire battlefield was suddenly filled with the chorus of angry animal roars. Xena saw Jenn look around in surprise and confusion. Then suddenly above an even mightier voice joined the animal ones sending echoes bouncing between the mountains and then the world seemed to explode with light and noise.

Xena desperately blinked the spot from her eyes, while swinging her sword around her in a defensive pattern. As she looked around she saw Jenn standing a couple of horse lengths away looking at her nearly destroyed fortress in anger and confusion. "I guess that wasn't part of the plan," Xena teased and swung her sword around as she moved in for the rematch.

Jenn turned towards her a screech in a tone of voice that reminded her of Callisto, before running towards her with her razor sharp sword ready for an attack. 

All around them the suddenly disadvantaged Mongolians got pushed back towards a fortress with only vestiges of walls to protect them. Huge tigers, bears and wolves joined the Chinese in the attack and with every moment their claws and fangs slaughtered more and more of the shaken army. A bear slapped a Mongolian soldier so hard he flew clear across his unit and landed in the middle of another. Wolves working in small three wolf packs harried and hunted single Mongolians like normal wolves would a deer in the wild. And above all the numerous tigers slashed and tore at any thing that wasn't on the side of the Chinese. Nobody noticed that Chang joined the battle fighting from atop his horse like his year of service with the Little Dragon had taught him. Just as many saw Chen coming around the outside of ruined palisades with a figure riding on him like he was a horse. They flew across the battlefield with a speed that made them nearly a blur to anyone that watched.

Xena barely parried another of the Jenn's lightning fast attacks. She pushed the sword back and tried to kick the woman away, but as every other time in this battle she missed. She could feel her body tiring. It was in moments like these in the past that the thought of Gabrielle and their continuing life would give her strength, but it could do that no more and for some twisted reason even though she loved her daughter more than her own life, she just couldn't muster the same determination from the thought of her. Xena forced herself into a leaping kick and wasn't surprised when she again missed her target.

"Feeling a little tired maybe," the witch gloated. She disappeared again and Xena felt a searing pain shoot through her left arm and something whizzing by as she barely dodged the vicious attack of her opponent. She whirled about to find Jenn licking some of her blood from the blade of her sword. Xena didn't bother to look at her arm, the throbbing pain in upper arm and numbness in her left hand told her everything she had to know. 

"And now for the finishing blow," Jenn mused. Xena somehow managed to see the witch blurring shape moving towards her this time. Everything seemed to slow down. She fought but just couldn't bring her sword about. The sounds of the battlefield fell into the background and it was as if she could hear Gabrielle's voice calling out to her telling her come to her. Xena felt herself drawn somewhere and let the feeling guide her.

Jenn's blurry shape and her reflecting surface of her sword drew closer. Soon it would end her misery and set her soul free to be with her bard. Xena welcomed it even if she had no time to prepare for her oncoming death.

A sword no wider than half a thumb and a little shorter than an arm, with no apparent edge or inscriptions on the straight blade parried the killing blow meant for Xena. A heavy leather boot kicked the witch away.

Xena turned her head and saw a short woman dressed in blue silk with red embroidery with shoulder length sun-bleached blonde hair, a muscular body and teary emerald green eyes framed by a beautiful face and lips that smiled almost shyly. She had one of those swords in each hand. "Gabrielle," she managed to stammer forth before Jenn's indignant screech drew her back into the battle.

Jenn raced forward again. Xena still couldn't see her move, but somehow that no longer mattered. Seeing Gabrielle standing alive at her side had filled her with energy and an urge to finish this battle in her favor. Her senses soared. She heard the rain pelt the mud and small pools of water all around them. The roar of warriors and animals filled the air, while the sounds of swords clashing and arrows flying mixed with the impact of another load from the Chinese catapults. Just to her left side a heartbeat as well known as her own mixed with the slight sound that Jenn's feet made as she ran towards them.

Xena slashed her sword in a low curve from right to left. She felt a gratifying impact in her wrist that told her she had hit something, while the air filled with the sound of one sword meeting another. She looked up to see that Gabrielle had used one of her swords to deflect another one of Jenn's nearly invisible blows.

Jenn stopped and turned towards them. "You're dead. The spirits told me you died at the hands of Temudjin," she screamed and pointed with her sword at Gabrielle.

"I'm her soul mate and when you fight Xena you fight me," Gabrielle's beloved voice rang across the battlefield. It was the one sweet sound that Xena had missed for so long and only the situation kept her from closing her eyes to savor it.

"Neither of you are strong enough to stop me," Jenn claimed, but she didn't sound so sure of herself. Xena looked pointedly at the witch's right leg, where her sword had left a wound across her thigh. She also noticed half of her chakram resting on Gabrielle's belt.

"Gabrielle," Xena said and looked at the half of her chakram then up at the witch hoping that she would understand, while drawing up the half she had. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Gabrielle drop one of her swords and pull the half into her hands.

Jenn seemed to consider her options and readied herself with a smile. She faked forward.

"Now," Xena yelled as suddenly a catapult load exploded nearby. She drew back her half and tossed it as hard as she could.

At her side Gabrielle not even wincing from the nearby explosion did the same.

Jenn smiled smugly and stepped back out of the place where the half had been aimed. "They will both miss," she thought in triumph and readied herself for another deadly pass this time aimed at the shorter blonde that she had hated since she had seen her as a captive in Temudjin's castle.

The chakram reformed and blazed forward from the collective force from both halves. When a wet pop it cut over half way into the very surprised looking witch's forehead. Her corpse flew back from the impact and landed in front of a couple of her officers. 

"I…" Xena looked at Gabrielle, who was looking at her with bewilderment. Xena knew her eyes showed the same.

An arrow thundered between them and they drew slightly away from each other.

"I have to help the Chinese," Gabrielle said and bent down to recollect her sword.

Xena knew that they couldn't just stop and talk in the middle of a major battle and went to recollect her chakram, while vowing to herself that she wouldn't leave Gabrielle alone no matter what. She turned to see Gabrielle fighting four men at once. She ran towards them ready to save her. 

Then Gabrielle swept her swords around sending two to the ground bleeding profusely then jumping up to catch another one around his neck with both her legs. The warrior bard then hammered the full length of one of her blades in his neck. He toppled over, while she rolled backwards into the air landing on her feet. Xena gasped the fourth man drove his sword towards her back. Suddenly there was a small roar and she heard the unlikely sound of metal shattering. Gabrielle didn't waste time. She turned around and delivered a couple of blows with the heavy pommels of her swords sending the Mongolian into dreamland. 

Xena was so caught up in Gabrielle's fight that only her instincts saved her from getting skewered by the spear of a Mongolian warrior. She grapped the spear and in a burst of strength that she hadn't cared to use for a long time used it to throw its unsuspecting and now screaming owner out into the Chinese army.

"I don't believe it," Chang's voice rang from yards away. "Look people it is the Little Dragon. She has returned to guide us to final victory against the invaders," he yelled. Heads turned towards the little woman whose silk clothing had been sufficiently ruined to show her perfect dragon tattoo. A victory cry came from the Chinese army. Their already bolstered morale suddenly overflowed just as the very same morale withered and died amongst the Mongolians. Xena felt like an onlooker all of a sudden as Gabrielle mounted Chen, who didn't seem to mind at all and lead what she surmised would be the final charge against the almost fleeing Mongolians. Even with all the stories she had heard and remembering the battle at Helicon it surprised her as Gabrielle began barking out orders, guiding the men into a much more disciplined formation. Xena didn't join the charge. She remained standing and watched Gabrielle as the battle led her further and further away.


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue: 

            Gabrielle couldn't help smiling warmly as she drew away from the third hug Wu had given her. "Take good care of yourself and the men. I am sure you can keep the Empire safe without me. My decision stands my friend. I might come back to visit. But I don't think it's a good idea for the former queen of the amazons to get a title from the Empire. I don't feel the need to be nobler thank you very much," she said.

"I'll miss you just as much as when I thought you had died my dear friend. Please promise me that you will visit again," he asked.

"I will try, but if I must be honest my life isn't one which makes good of these kinds of promises. Be well Sun Wu," she said and gave him another farewell hug.

"Farewell Little Dragon," he whispered in her ear and turned away as soon as she let go to better cover his emotions. 

Gabrielle smiled sadly as she walked over to the next pair of dear friends that she would leave within the next couple of minutes. "I am lucky to have two such good and loyal friends in my life as you two," she said with tears in her eyes, while addressing Mai and Chang. Gabrielle gathered them into a hug and held them there for a long time.

"You seem happier now than I have ever seen you before," Mai said in her meek voice as Gabrielle let them go again.

"I am. My place in life is with Xena. Our souls belong together. It is just that simple," Gabrielle tried to explain the depth of her emotions, but once again failed to find words that covered it as well as her actions did.

"I wish the both of you great luck in your life," Chang said and didn't try to hide that he was crying just as much as the two women. "I would follow you wherever you wanted. But my life is to serve Chin and I think you would want me to follow the path that is now open for me to do that," he explained.

"Besides traveling with two women can be rather bad for the male ego," Gabrielle commented then sighed. "Thank you both for taking care of Ghost and all my possessions… I just Fong could've been here. He doesn't deserve to grieve over me. He has so little life left to him that he should be living it happily," she mused. 

Her friends nodded in agreement. "As soon as the messengers arrive he will learn the happy news. I bet that it will lighten his mood and give some spring to his step. Let's hope that he doesn't get it into his stubborn head that he wants to see the truth for himself though," Chang said and smiled at the memory of the roguish monk.

"Yeah," Gabrielle said. Mai looked at her and blushed while avoiding looking her in the eyes. Gabrielle knew her former maid well enough to know that behavior as an indication of something the shy maid didn't dare to say. "Speak your mind Mai please…" Gabrielle asked.

"I don't understand how you can be here now. Why didn't you return earlier? I know you explained it to the others, but no one… told… me," Mai explained.

Gabrielle gave Chang that had been present in Wu's tent, when she had explained all of this to Wu. "I think Chang is sorry about that, but I'll rectify his mistake. When you thought you saw me die after the battle with Temudjin, you were only half right. It was a sleeping poison meant to knock out a dragon, so I fell into a heavy sleep and yes I was dying too. So my friend the dragon took me back here to his valley and bathed my wounds in his own blood. The dragon's blood cured me, but I still had to spend a long time recovering. That was when he introduced me to Chen and his family of tigers. For some reason they decided that I had been doing the duties of a tiger and decided to adopt me," Gabrielle's right hand slipped over to touch the claw mark on her left shoulder. 

"I was just about recovered, when Jenn tried to recapture the dragon. I decided to help protect the valley and the dragon, because I just knew that the Emperor would send Wu out to finish her off. That witch was too dangerous to have running around. So spend month after month defending this valley with the help of the tigers. Soon the wolves and bears, animal spirits just like the tiger clan, joined us. However not long ago I got wounded after slipping inside the fortress to steal one of Jenn's officers. We got a lot out of him including the fact that you were coming and the traps that had been prepared for you, but I had to recover and so I sent Chen out to meet the army instead of going myself. But when Chen returned with the news that you had been defeated I convinced the animals that you would attack in strength soon, but that you would be defeated if you didn't have us to help you. I was surprised to find half of Xena's chakram flying towards me as I scouted in front of my friends and ecstatic to see her alive. But the rest of the story you probably already know," she said and got a nod from Mai. 

They had routed the Mongolians here, while Wu crushed the other army under a couple of rockslides and a massive sneak attack. After the battle Xena had been detached and strange for a while as well as unwilling to talk much about the events that had led both of them here. They had rested for a couple of days, but Gabrielle knew even after the years of separation that Xena wouldn't open up for weeks to come. Eventually she would but not yet.

Gabrielle cast another glance over her shoulder, where Xena sat atop her loyal mare Nike and Ghost stood awaiting her mistress. They had packed this morning and agreed to set out for home. It had been nearly three years since she had last seen Greece, her family and the friends she had left there. "If you ever need my help or just a friend don't hesitate to send a messenger towards Greece. I'll probably be around," she promised.

"Yeah sure, as if you'd stay in one country, when there are still horizons beyond which you haven't looked yet," Chang replied sarcastically.

Gabrielle smiled slightly and gave them an amazon salute with tears in her eyes, then turned away. She walked over and mounted Ghost for the first time in half a year. It felt good to be back in her saddle, but it felt even better to have the black haired woman sitting only a few feet away with her again. She didn't know how that had happened, but she knew that it was only a matter of time. They needed to talk about things. Time had passed and people had changed. Now it was time to see if their connection was stronger than that.

Teaser: 

            Keep an eye out of the 6th and final part of the Darkness and the Light series: Stepping into the Light. Xena and Gabrielle are returning to their old haunts. But all is not well in their relationship. They have each changed in ways the other cannot understand. Can they work out their differences before the countryside explodes into a bloody rebellion?


End file.
